BoxRec

The event will air live on Fox Sports Pay-Per-View, with all participants due to meet the press for a late morning session Tuesday in Los Angeles. Also on hand will be Josesito Lopez and John Molina Jr., both of whom collide in what figures to be a wild battle of California-based welterweight gatekeepers.

No belt is required to motivate Lopez and Molina Jr. in the ring. Both are in need of a win, and almost never disappoint when it comes to delivering crowd-pleasing bouts.



Lopez (36-8, 19KOs) saw his stock soar in his most recent defeat, giving a comebacking Keith Thurman all that he could handle before falling short in a 12-round majority decision this past January live in primetime on free-to-air Fox. The bout disrupted a three-fight win streak stretched over four years following a stoppage loss to former welterweight titlist Andre Berto in their March 2015 Spike TV-aired thriller.

Molina Jr. (30-8, 24KOs) has been in his own share of thrillers, including a valiant-in-defeat stoppage loss to Lucas Matthysse in April 2014. The bout was hailed as the Fight of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America, although also the start of a rough patch which has seen him lose six of his last eight bouts.

It never deterred the 36-year old from taking tough assignments, including a hard-fought loss to then-unbeaten Omar Figueroa Jr. this past February on Fox and what was to be a Fox Sports PPV preliminary clash versus former 140-pound titlist Sergey Lipinets in July. The crossroads bout was to serve in supporting capacity to Manny Pacquiao’s eventual 12-round win over Thurman, only for Molina to suffer a back injury just days before the show and was forced to withdraw.

Apparently, he is all healed up and ready for the latest ‘win-or-go-home’ assignment in his never-die career.

Interesting matchup. Both are basically all, but finished in the sport, but I guess they're vying to stay relevant for one more big opportunity.

gilgamesh wrote: ↑13 Aug 2019, 14:32 Interesting matchup. Both are basically all, but finished in the sport, but I guess they're vying to stay relevant for one more big opportunity.

Molina pulled out of the Lipinets fight on the Pac-Thurman PPV.

He has another chance here for a decent undercard payday.

Should be fun.

Starts after 6 mins

10 days for this scrap!

This’ll be a good matchup between two men that definitely aren’t world class, but at the end of the day, us hard-core fight fans want to be entertained and this bout will inevitably deliver.

Here is what the fighters had to say Wednesday from the Wilshire Grand Ballroom II at the Intercontinental Hotel:

JOSESITO LOPEZ

“I’m really excited to be here. This is a great event. I can’t wait for this fight. Make sure you tune in early because this fight is going to be all action. I’m prepared for everything that’s going to happen on Saturday.

“I’m really pumped up to get it on Saturday. Right now I’m just laid back and relaxing. All the hard work is done. Weigh-in next then we’re ready to head into Saturday.

“I’ve been known for my left hook but I think I’ve made a lot of improvements in how I throw my right hand. It’s going to be a lethal combo.

“It’s going to be action and violence on Saturday night. I’m excited for it. I’m in this sport to be in marquee fights like this. This is going to be a fight everyone remembers.

“STAPLES Center is a place where I really got the opportunity to make a name for myself. Ever since then, I’ve been putting it all on the line, time and time again. By having a never give up attitude, anything is possible.”

JOHN MOLINA JR.

“I believe Lopez and myself are going to set the bar really high on fight night. It’s an all action fight. As a fan of the sport, I’d love to sit back and watch. We’re prepared and ready to go give everyone a great show.

“This fight has been a long time coming. We came up in this sport around the same time and I always thought he would be a great challenge. If you want to look for someone who has a resume close to mine, it would be Josesito.

“I’m excited because this is a challenge. I know this is no easy fight. It’s going to be spontaneous combustion. It’s instant fight, just add water.

“It’s going to be all action. The butterflies are starting to kick in and that means I’m ready to go now. The hard work is done, the weight is good, and we’re ready to go to work.

“We sparred back in the day but the only thing I’ll say is, that if that session is what you’ll see on Saturday, you’re going to really enjoy it.”

Josesito can hurt Molina bad with his reach

As I have predicted, Lopez relied on his straight long right to surprise and batter Molina Jr. towards the stoppage

great fight

Funny enough I've seen a good few people say it was a nice fight, but I don't know wtf they are on about. Lopez just beat up Molina in a fight that was not competitive and had an easy to predict result after the first

Molina took more punches than he should have.