Anthony Joshua vs. Eric Molina

Challenger rankings

Org.	Pos.	As of	Published
1+ Mth. Old
WBA	NR	09.09.2016	15.09.2016
WBC	11	03.09.2016	by 16.09.2016
IBF	8	31.08.2016	07.09.2016
WBO	NR	17.09.2016	17.09.2016
Ring	NR	22.08.2016	by 16.09.2016
2+ Mth. Old
WBA	NR	09.08.2016	11.08.2016
WBC	11	06.08.2016	07-19.08.2016
IBF	8	31.07.2016	09.08.2016
WBO	NR	27.07.2016	27.07.2016
Ring	N/A	N/A	N/A
3+ Mth. Old
WBA	NR	11.07.2016	14.07.2016
WBC	12	02.07.2016	09-19.07.2016
IBF	8	30.06.2016	06.07.2016
WBO	NR	27.07.2016	27.07.2016
Ring	N/A	N/A	N/A

Anthony Joshua 249 lbs beat Eric Molina 237 lbs by TKO at 2:02 in round 3 of 12

• Date: 2016-12-10
• Location: Manchester Arena, Manchester, Lancashire, United Kingdom
• Referee: Steve Gray
• Judge: Michael Alexander
• Judge: Glenn Feldman
• Judge: Deon Dwarte

• IBF World heavyweight title
• Promoter: Eddie Hearn (Matchroom Sport)
• Aired On: Sky Box Office

Notes

Timeline

• On June 26, promoter Eddie Hearn told Sky Sports that Joshua would take a long rest after defending his title against Dominic Breazeale before returning "likely" in November. He acknowledged his interest in scheduling a fight against IBF mandatory Joseph Parker, or a showdown against Wladimir Klitschko.[1]
• On July 1, Eddie Hearn told Daily Mail that Joshua would return to the ring in November or December; he named Parker, Bryant Jennings, former WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne and Kubrat Pulev among considered candidates, as well as "the possibility next year of Wladimir Klitschko, with the uncertainty surrounding Tyson Fury's future at the moment."[2]
• On July 7, Eddie's father Barry Hearn expressed his interest in scheduling a fight between Joshua and Stiverne. "There's a whole range of names out there – whether you're talking Stiverne, Eric Molina. Stiverne is probably my number one choice because of his credibility."[3] Stiverne acknowledged on July 13 that he was already in training camp in case the fight materialized.[4]
• On July 27, it was announced that Parker would face heavyweight contender Alexander Dimitrenko October 1, with the Joshua fight taking place likely the following year. “All we know is [Anthony] Joshua is talking to other camps at the moment,” Parker’s trainer Kevin Barry said as reported by stuff.co.nz. "He's definitely not talking to us. The fact we're taking this fight on October 1st, there is a pretty fair assumption we're not fighting Joshua in November. After this fight there's every indication that, everything going well, we'll fight another tall guy later in the year."[5]
• Early August Joshua posted a tweet in which he asked all the fighters calling him out to "leave him alone" unless they're serious contenders and not mere hypejobs.[6]
• On August 22, Eddie Hearn announced that Joshua would return to the ring November 26. Though the venue and opponent weren't announced, it was reported that Pulev, Parker and Stiverne were on the short-list of potential candidates.[7][8]
• On August 30, it was reported that Hearn was working on a plan to put together a heavyweight triple-header at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, in which Joshua would face Pulev, Parker would challenge David Price and Dereck Chisora would fight Dillian Whyte. “We are looking at the possibility of a big night of heavyweight boxing at the Principality Stadium. We are talking about David Price vs. Joseph Parker, Dillian Whyte vs. Dereck Chisora and then Anthony Joshua vs. Kubrat Pulev all bundled into one – it could be a lot of fun. It could be either late November or December – we will definitely have the roof shut given the time of the year!", Hearn said.[9]
• On September 19, Hearn complained to The Express about the difficulty of finding the next opponent to Joshua: "They all want a fortune. We're having to pay a lot of money for opponents. Pulev's the most likely but he's not jumping out of his seat to take the fight."[10]
• Four days later, Hearn told Sky Sports that Parker was the most likely opponent for November. He also acknowleged that there were negotiations between himself and people representing Hughie Fury, but "we're light years away from expectancy levels from both sides".[11]
• The following day, Hearn tweeted "Reached out to Klitschko team – we love the fight!" as the Klitschko-Fury rematch had been called off.[12]
• On October 2, Hearn insisted in an interview with The Telegraph that the Joshua-Klitschko showdown for November or December is "still very much on the cards": "Klitschko wants the fight, AJ wants the fight, that's always a great sign".[13]
• On October 10, Hearn said that Joshua-Klitschko was "almost there", though he wanted to wait with the official announcement until "all the boxes are ticked".[14]
• On October 16, Hearn told BBC Radio 5 Live that the Klitschko deal "is there": "Anthony Joshua has agreed to fight Wladimir Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko has agreed to fight Anthony Joshua. The financial terms have been agreed. We had a problem with US broadcasters, with the two being on different networks, that's sorted out. So now it's just a case of getting the paperwork sorted out, the sanctions sorted out."[15]
• Two days later, Hearn told Sky Sports that the WBA was still yet to sanction the bout: "The deal is there but we are awaiting sanction from the WBA. Both teams have written to the WBA to request sanctioning of our fight, but Wladimir wants the WBA belt on the line so until that is approved we cannot move forward. We expect news in the next few days, but in the meantime I believe both sides will look at alternative options for December 10 while we hope to get the news we need to make the fight happen."[16]
• On October 20, Hearn acknowledged that he was not hopeful anymore of scheduling the fight in December, as WBA had still not responded. Instead, he listed Molina, Jennings, Price and Pulev as potential replacements, with Pulev being the preferred choice.[17]
• Klitscko's manager Bernd Boente confirmed in an interview on October 24 that the fight had to be put on hold until spring for a variety of reasons, which included WBA's lack of response on whether it would sanction the bout, lack of time for promotion and an injury Klitschko had suffered the week before.[18][19]
• The next day, Eddie Hearn said to have narrowed down the candidates list to Molina and David Price. In response, Price's trainer Dave Coldwell said: "There has been contact, but I'm hearing that Eddie is looking at Molina".[20]
• Bout formally announced November 1.[21]

Ranking Movements

• Molina ranked No. 8 by the IBF since at least June 3 going into the fight.
• He was also ranked 11th by the WBC as of September, but swiftly moved to eighth in the rankings released October 10-20. However, after the Joshua fight was announced, Molina was removed from the rankings entirely.
• He remained unranked by the WBA, WBO and The Ring Magazine going into the fight.

The Fight

• Joshua started the fight cautiously, keeping Molina at the end of his jab in the opening two rounds. In the third, Joshua caught Molina with a heavy right that sent the challenger to the canvas. Molina barely beat the count, after which Joshua unleashed a flurry of punches, prompting the referee to stop the fight.[22]
• CompuBox stats: Joshua landed 38 punches out of 105 thrown (36%), while Molina connected with a mere 6 punches out of 34 (18%).[23]

Preceded by: Joshua vs. Breazeale

IBF Heavyweight Title Fight # 68

Succeeded by: Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko