Samuel Molina to defend European title against Egidijus Kavaliauskas Nov. 28
European welterweight champion Samuel Molina will take his title on the road when he faces former world title challenger Egidijus Kavaliauskas in Kaunas, Lithuania, on November 28.
The event which takes place at the multi-purpose Zalgiris Arena, in the second largest city in Lithuania, can host as many as 20,000 fans and will be Kavaliauskas first fight in his birth country.
Molina will be looking to make the third defense of the European title he won last October when he upset Jordy Weiss (MD 12) in Laval, France.
The Spanish fighter looked less than stellar last time out when he was held to a draw by Anas Messaoudi on August 2 in Malaga, Spain, and Kavaliauskas should provide him with a stern examination that will test his credentials further.
Molina (32-3-1, 15 KOs) turned professional in August 2017. The 26-year-old rebounded to become Spanish champion at 140 pounds when he beat fellow Spaniard Jon Fernandez (UD 10) in December 2022. That led to an unsuccessful shot at the European 140-pound title against Franck Petitjean, a 12-rounder Molina lost by majority decision in June 2023 in Paris.
Molina scored a career-best win when he edged Weiss and has since beaten Sandy Messaoud (UD 12) in February before the draw with Messaoudi.
Kavaliauskas (24-3-1, 19 KOs) was a standout amateur representing his homeland at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. However, the highlight of his time in the unpaid ranks came when he claimed bronze at the 2011 World Championships.
He used those tournaments as a springboard into the professional ranks, basing himself in America and signing with Top Rank in 2013. His early career was something of a slow burn before he impressively stopped future world title challenger David Avanesyan (TKO 6) in February 2018. He finally got his world title shot and despite his successes, he was stopped by WBO titlist Terence Crawford (TKO 9) in December 2019.
Two fights later, he was stopped by Vergil Ortiz (TKO 8). Three wins righted the ship but the 37-year-old is coming off a close decision loss to Souleymane Cissokho (UD 12) in Equatorial Guinea on May 10.
