Deontay Wilder vs. Eric Molina (13th June)?

[tiny_acres]

I think it will take a miracle for Molina to last through 1 round.

[Rexob]

Looking forward to this one.

[max hord]

who trains Wilder ? he looks like the heavy's of the 70's a little...needs a world class trainer and manager.

[Bard of Boxrec]

Ridiculous fight.

[marvelous marv]

Coming off a broken hand I guess I am ok with this, as long as he fights Povetkin or Perez next.

[chucktaylor]

who trains Wilder ? he looks like the heavy's of the 70's a little...needs a world class trainer and manager.

His trainer is Mark Breland, who seems like a good fit given his style (long range boxer/puncher). Wilder looks a little raw because he's only been boxing about 10 years- a lot less than most world class fighters. He has good form considering his limited experience.

btw, disappointing fight if it's Molina. Hopefully his team is trying to put together something more significant and this is just to stay active. Povetkin is an enticing matchup, of course.

[Lackeos]

A fight with Povetkin would be super sick. Molina is really disappointing, though. Molina would be an appropriate opponent for Martin, Washington, or Fedosov. But against Deontay Wilder for a world title... that's pretty weak.

[Bobbyptsd]

Povetkin isn't a bad fight at all, and I'm not sure he'd still have the belt after it. Molina is......well, clearly a guy they are lining up to get knocked out in the meantime.

Seems pointless.

[Badhusker]

A fight with Povetkin would be super sick. Molina is really disappointing, though. Molina would be an appropriate opponent for Martin, Washington, Boytsov, or Fedosov. But against Deontay Wilder for a world title... that's pretty weak.

I agree, I am disappointed as well. The only thing I can figure is that he wants to test his hand to see if it holds up? I noticed Wilder was careful to make it sound like he had no say in the match-up, so maybe he is using it to see if his hand holds up? Regardless, he isn't good enough just yet to look past anyone. I don't know much about Molina, and have not seen him fight.

[Lackeos]

A fight with Povetkin would be super sick. Molina is really disappointing, though. Molina would be an appropriate opponent for Martin, Washington, Boytsov, or Fedosov. But against Deontay Wilder for a world title... that's pretty weak.

I agree, I am disappointed as well. The only thing I can figure is that he wants to test his hand to see if it holds up? I noticed Wilder was careful to make it sound like he had no say in the match-up, so maybe he is using it to see if his hand holds up? Regardless, he isn't good enough just yet to look past anyone. I don't know much about Molina, and have not seen him fight.

Well Arreola flattened him in 1 round, almost as if a f*ck you to Don King. Hard to imagine Wilder struggling with a fighter who got steamrolled by Arreola. He hits kind of hard, but that's unlikely to matter a lot.

[Batley18]

So let me get this straight, Wilder is given bums until he gets a World title shot. He subsequently wins that fight in an impressive manner given he had never been past the 4th round, and now they are giving him some more terrible fighters to destroy.

Utterly pointless fight. Will be surprised to see a second round.

[jujigatame]

Surely this cannot be serious. I thought we were gonna get Tarver or Cunningham, or maybe Arreola at the absolute worst. Eric Molina?? WTF?????

[Galvanised Clout]

He's got more of a test fighting Zelenoff again ..

[crusader]

Surely this cannot be serious. I thought we were gonna get Tarver or Cunningham, or maybe Arreola at the absolute worst. Eric Molina?? WTF?????

Ya, I was very iffy about Arreola when I thought it was going to be him, but now it's apparently someone he stopped in the first

[jujigatame]

I hate to dredge up this argument again, but this sort of matchup is why people are very wary of Haymon having so much influence in the boxing world.

I mean, why is Showtime even televising this? Haymon must really have them by the balls.

[jujigatame]

What? Who is talking about Klitchko?

[jujigatame]

You don't have much of a point, at least not as it pertains to this particular matchup.

I mean, you can't possibly think that Eric Molina was the best opponent Haymon could arrange for Wilder, can you? He has several better HWs in his own stable.

[koolkc107]

I think Wilder starts a new KO streak with this fight.

[Badhusker]

Hopefully they can put the Wilder fight on the same night as Khan vs Algieri - so no one will watch. Very poor match-making.

[jujigatame]

You were the first person to mention Al Haymon on this thread. So I addressed your post.

No, you didn't. You posted some random stuff about HBO and Haymon's relationship that was almost totally unrelated to what I wrote.

I didn't defend Haymon, instead I merely stated facts.

Yes, irrelevant facts.

[david1963]

So let me get this straight, Wilder is given bums until he gets a World title shot. He subsequently wins that fight in an impressive manner given he had never been past the 4th round, and now they are giving him some more terrible fighters to destroy.

Utterly pointless fight. Will be surprised to see a second round.

Spot on. Absolutely shameless choice by the promoters.

[SenorPipino]

I'll give Wilder a pass on this.
It's merely a showcase bout to unveil the new champion to a world wide television audience in his home state of Alabama.

No harm no foul.

So it's not a competitive bout that shouldn't see the 3rd round.

Foreman had his Joe Roman in his first defense, Joe Frazier immediately took on Terry Daniels after winning universal recognition as champ.

What's Wilder doing but following in the footsteps of other great heavyweight titlists?

[tiny_acres]

I'll give Wilder a pass on this.
It's merely a showcase bout to unveil the new champion to a world wide television audience in his home state of Alabama.

No harm no foul.

So it's not a competitive bout that shouldn't see the 3rd round.

Foreman had his Joe Roman in his first defense, Joe Frazier immediately took on Terry Daniels after winning universal recognition as champ.

What's Wilder doing but following in the footsteps of other great heavyweight titlists?

You make a good point.And as long as Wilder fights the winner of Povetkin-Perez next.
I do not see a problem.

[Bobbyptsd]

To be honest, apart from the notable exception of Bermane Stiverne, I believe that 32 of Deontay's 33 opponents are utterly appalling in terms of calibre and I’m genuinely surprised that people are giving him a free pass in order to participate in another mismatch against a man that struggled to overcome the challenge posed by the "mighty" Raphael Zumbano Love!

I think some people are hoping he'll be the next exciting American heavyweight champion. When you see people mentioning Foreman and Frazier, I think it makes it clear. So I think people are willing to give him more of a pass, in the hopes that he starts taking on top opposition afterwards.

I mean if this guy were a welterweight, his "world champion level" career up to now would be considered kind of a joke, if we're being serious. But I think people, understandably to some extent, hold out hope that this guy might be a new heavyweight champion with a real legacy who is A)Exciting to watch and B)Depending on who you're talking to, the fact that he's American might be important.

[Freedom2013]

Al Haymon isn’t 100% responsible for all the political shenanigans, yet he seems to always shoulder the blame.

If HBO hadn’t decided to break their working relationship with him, bigger fights would be made… and I even gave you an example when I mentioned Klitschko (as he cannot face Wilder).

So I feel that Haymon’s influence over the boxing world is not as great as people claim it to be, because sometimes it’s other parties that refuse to do business with him, not the other way around.

Interesting how you made a thread critical of Joshua for taking a stay-busy fight against Love, yet you approve of Wilder defending the WBC heavyweight title against someone as poor as Molina.