In late 2017 John Molina Jr. turned in a comeback performance against Ivan Redkach. Molina got off the deck in that fight to score the come from behind knockout, which has become something of a signature for him. With his next bout set to be announced soon, Molina took the time to talk with Big Time Boxing about his life and the sport.
Question: A lot of fighters get started in the sport because they were bullied as kids. How did you first get involved in boxing?
Answer: "Believe it or not, my father was heavily into boxing. Him and my mother had my sister when they were 16 years old so early on they knew boxing wasn't going to pay the bills. So he had to trade in his boxing gloves for
work boots, and started working. By the time they were 21 they had all three of us, so there went that dream. But they always had an archive of fights of great fights of the 80s and early 90s that I was always watching as a kid. And then for the big fights he would take me, not to the fight but to a location where they were showing it and we'd watch it, so I always kind of secretly loved boxing. I didn't start boxing until I was 17 years old but I did spend one month in a boxing gym when I was 10 years old and I remember a trainer specifically was holding the mitts for me and when I started letting go he said 'wow,' he stopped me, I remember him calling his brother on the phone, saying 'I just found a kid who hits harder than any other kid I've ever found before."
Q: So really you were just a fan and that's how you got started in boxing?
A: "Yeah I was definitely a fan. I always excelled at one-on-one competitions, I was big in wresting in high school, that was my sport. I was the captain of the team, I was probably one of the best in our area in regards to wrestling so that was my passion."
Q: Do you think starting out in a combat sport like wrestling helped you when you transitioned to boxing, do you think it made the transition easier?
A: "It helped in regards of the whole weight making issue because obviously we had to make weight for wrestling. I wrestled at a lower weight class than my natural walking around weight and so that definitely helped out in that mindset. Plus a one-on-one competition, there's nothing like fighting but wrestling is similar in regards to one-on-one competition."
Q: You said when you wrestled you walked around at a higher weight than you fought at, is that the same for boxing, and what's the most extreme thing you've had to do cut weight as a professional fighter?
A: "Not a much higher weight but we definitely had to do it the old school way. You have to remember, back then for wrestling we did it the old school way of just losing water weight, we didn't have the accurate weight. It helps you with the mental toughness of going through the whole school week not being able to eat or drink because you had to make weight for wrestling so in that perspective it helped. Now as far as the most significant things that I've had to do in regards to making weight as a professional, now in this stage of my career I do it the right way. Everyone has the old school mentality of I'm going to run in a 100 degree room and rub some Abilene on to make weight and that's the complete wrong way of doing it. Doing it that way you can dehydrate yourself. The perfect example is in my last fight, I only dehydrated 5 percent of my body weight to show everyone I could still make 140. Changing your body composition is the only accurate, real way of making weight. If you do it any other way you're going to be flat by the time the sixth round comes up."
Q: You mentioned that you got involved in boxing at 17 years old, how did you make the decision that you wanted to be a professional fighter?
A: "When I picked up the sport at 17 years old I remember walking into a gym and telling a trainer 'I want to be a fighter' and I called out anybody, I said 'I'll spar any of your best guys in here' because at that point I was just young and just wanting to prove myself. At the time Vanes Martirosyan was in the gym getting ready to go to the Olympics and he was in the room and I said 'I'll spar him' even though I fought at 131 in the amateurs and I think Maritrosyan was fighting at 152 or 154 and the guys kind of laughed at me. So they got another kid, I forget the kids name, but he was like a three time national champion out of Chicago. They said 'Why don't you spar with this kid?' In other words they were trying to put me in there just to get my butt kicked to show me there's levels to this game. So I walk in there and the kid is just tagging me, left and right, tagging me, tagging me, tagging me and then boom I land a right hand and I drop him and the whole gym goes quiet because he was supposed to mop me up but I changed it all with one punch. Kind of like a lot of my fights in my professional career. So that first day of sparring I was covered in blood because my mouth was bleeding, my nose was bleeding and I remember hanging that shirt up and saying that will never happen to me again and then I knocked the kid out in sparring and my trainer said 'Hey we got something here, this kid can punch' and it went from there.
Q: If you weren't a professional fighter what job do you think you'd have now?
A: "I really don't know as far as what job I'd be doing, although I will say this; the only time I got a rush similar to fighting, or walking out in the arena at the MGM Grand, 23,000 in attendance, everyone watching at home and you're going to fight the best in the world, the rush that I got that was similar to that rush would be when I did a ride along with the cops. On the ride along we did five arrests and that similar rush to being in the ring I got that feeling in the ride along, not knowing what to expect, maybe being in the line of fire, you always have to be alert."
Q: You've fought a lot of good fighters in your career but what was the toughest fight of your career?
A: "I always took the significant fight, the tough guy, even if on paper it looked like I was going to get smoked I still took the fight because I'm going to change the fight. I think that's why the fans have kept me relevant because I'm always there to fight and my fights are always exciting. With that being said, the toughest guy I believe, and I know this is going to sound crazy but the fight against Adrien Broner. Everyone thought 'Molina laid down for him because they paid him to lay down' absolutely not. Adrien is just a slippery guy, very athletically inclined, very talented, very fast and if he's on his game he'll make it hard for anybody. Just like this fight coming up with Jessie (Vargas), if Broner is on his game, which I believe he will be, I think it's going to be a tough night for Jessie. I think Jessie can win, I just don't think Jessie possesses the power to make Broner respect him.
Q: Of all your opponents who had the best chin?
A: "The best chin hands down would be (Ruslan) Provodnikov. I could hit that guy with a brick and he wouldn't have went anywhere. I mean I was tagging that guy, I was cracking him. I threw 1,100 punches in that fight and landed 700 jabs over the course of 12 rounds and I was cracking him. I have to say, Provodnikov definitely had a head like an anvil. I hurt him to the body but I didn't finish him because I didn't think he was ever significantly hurt during the fight and I really cracked this guy."
Q: You've faced some big punchers in your career, who was the heaviest hitter?
A: "As far as punching goes I would say, and I know it makes sense, I would say (Lucas) Matthysse. Although in the heat of the battle I felt like we were able to weather the storm a little bit even though I was coming up in weight.
Q: Your 2014 fight against Lucas Matthysse was Big Time Boxing's Fight of the Year, what's it like to be a part of a classic slugfest like that?
A: I'm not complaining about who won or who lost the fight. I'm saying it was a great fight, it was a fun fight, a fan friendly fight but I had reporters that have been in the business for 30 years pull me aside and say 'John, this is the first fight I've ever had to just turn away and couldn't watch because it was so gruesome' in regards to the punches that were landed. One guy told me it sounded like 'watermelons exploding' when we were hitting each other. It was definitely a significant fight, a good fight, but it's one of those fights that I wish I could do over again. Unfortunately I don't ever see it happening again because of the politics of the game."
Q: Of all the wins in your career, which victory are you most proud of?
A: "I mean you could say the Mickey Bey fight where I was losing on all the cards and getting outpointed and I comeback and knock him out with 58 seconds left in the fight. You could say the fight where I'm down 10 rounds to one against Hank Lundy early in my career and I comeback to knock him out in the 11th round. You can say the Provodnikov fight where I was an 11-1 underdog and smoked him in the fight and actually showed a wrinkle in my game that no one knew I possessed in regards to my jab and my boxing ability."
Q: Boxing fans love to debate about mythical match-ups. If you could fight anyone, active or retired, who would it be?
A: "I think a fight with me and Arturi Gatti would have been a war at 140. It would have been very similar to Micky Ward and Arturo Gatti. To me in regards to tough guy and a guy who's always in it, I believe I'm a bigger puncher than Gatti but the guy brought a lot to the table. I would love to fight, if we're going back to the 80s, a fight with me and Vinny Pazienza at 140 would be a barn burner. I think these guys are throwback fighters, take 40 to give one and be in it until you can't go anymore. And to me the fight is never over and it's not a fluke, I've proven it over and over and over again. I think I'm the most dramatic fighter in recent history and I've proven the fight is never over until it's really over."
Q: Something that gets debated constantly is who the greatest fighter ever is. Who do you consider to be the greatest to ever lace up a pair of gloves?
A: "The greatest of all-time is between two and it's crazy because they fought each other. It's between "Sugar" Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran. I'll say Roberto Duran because in order to beat a prime "Sugar" Ray Leonard you've got to be an SOB, you've got to be a real special talent to beat a prime "Sugar" Ray Leonard. And the only guy to really do that in his prime was Roberto Duran. Then you had "Sugar" Ray Leonard come back and avenge that loss against Roberto Duran by making him quit but I've spoken to Roberto Duran directly and he said the words 'no mas' never came out of his mouth. I think Floyd (Mayweather) is a definite defensive master, I think he's a definite talent, but of our era. I'm not taking anything away from Floyd, I think he's the best of our era in boxing but I believe in my heart of hearts, in my humble opinion, I believe if he fought in the era of the late 70s or early 80s I don't think that zero would be there still. With guys like (Julio Cesar) Chavez, Meldrick Taylor, Roberto Duran, "Sugar" Ray Leonard, (Marvin) Hagler, and (Thomas) Hearns I don't see Floyd being undefeated in that era.
Q: Who would you rank as the number one pound for pound fighter in the sport right now?
A: "Number one pound for pound right now would be a toss-up between Mikey Garcia, Terence Crawford, and (Vasyl) Lomachenko. I think it's between those three guys.
Q: Boxing is a sport that has its share of problems, if you could change one thing about the sport what would it be?
A: "For me, and again this is my opinion and it lends itself more to my style, but I would change it from 12 rounds back to 15 rounds. I get why they don't do it for the health of the fighter and I respect that but stylistically a 15 round fight makes more sense for me. For my style, my power it would give me more time to pull the fight out of the fire."
Question: A lot of fighters get started in the sport because they were bullied as kids. How did you first get involved in boxing?
Answer: "Believe it or not, my father was heavily into boxing. Him and my mother had my sister when they were 16 years old so early on they knew boxing wasn't going to pay the bills. So he had to trade in his boxing gloves for work boots, and started working. By the time they were 21 they had all three of us, so there went that dream. But they always had an archive of fights of great fights of the 80s and early 90s that I was always watching as a kid. And then for the big fights he would take me, not to the fight but to a location where they were showing it and we'd watch it, so I always kind of secretly loved boxing. I didn't start boxing until I was 17 years old but I did spend one month in a boxing gym when I was 10 years old and I remember a trainer specifically was holding the mitts for me and when I started letting go he said 'wow,' he stopped me, I remember him calling his brother on the phone, saying 'I just found a kid who hits harder than any other kid I've ever found before."
Q: So really you were just a fan and that's how you got started in boxing?
A: "Yeah I was definitely a fan. I always excelled at one-on-one competitions, I was big in wresting in high school, that was my sport. I was the captain of the team, I was probably one of the best in our area in regards to wrestling so that was my passion."
Q: Do you think starting out in a combat sport like wrestling helped you when you transitioned to boxing, do you think it made the transition easier?
A: "It helped in regards of the whole weight making issue because obviously we had to make weight for wrestling. I wrestled at a lower weight class than my natural walking around weight and so that definitely helped out in that mindset. Plus a one-on-one competition, there's nothing like fighting but wrestling is similar in regards to one-on-one competition."
Q: You said when you wrestled you walked around at a higher weight than you fought at, is that the same for boxing, and what's the most extreme thing you've had to do cut weight as a professional fighter?
A: "Not a much higher weight but we definitely had to do it the old school way. You have to remember, back then for wrestling we did it the old school way of just losing water weight, we didn't have the accurate weight. It helps you with the mental toughness of going through the whole school week not being able to eat or drink because you had to make weight for wrestling so in that perspective it helped. Now as far as the most significant things that I've had to do in regards to making weight as a professional, now in this stage of my career I do it the right way. Everyone has the old school mentality of I'm going to run in a 100 degree room and rub some Abilene on to make weight and that's the complete wrong way of doing it. Doing it that way you can dehydrate yourself. The perfect example is in my last fight, I only dehydrated 5 percent of my body weight to show everyone I could still make 140. Changing your body composition is the only accurate, real way of making weight. If you do it any other way you're going to be flat by the time the sixth round comes up."Q: You mentioned that you got involved in boxing at 17 years old, how did you make the decision that you wanted to be a professional fighter?
A: "When I picked up the sport at 17 years old I remember walking into a gym and telling a trainer 'I want to be a fighter' and I called out anybody, I said 'I'll spar any of your best guys in here' because at that point I was just young and just wanting to prove myself. At the time Vanes Martirosyan was in the gym getting ready to go to the Olympics and he was in the room and I said 'I'll spar him' even though I fought at 131 in the amateurs and I think Maritrosyan was fighting at 152 or 154 and the guys kind of laughed at me. So they got another kid, I forget the kids name, but he was like a three time national champion out of Chicago. They said 'Why don't you spar with this kid?' In other words they were trying to put me in there just to get my butt kicked to show me there's levels to this game. So I walk in there and the kid is just tagging me, left and right, tagging me, tagging me, tagging me and then boom I land a right hand and I drop him and the whole gym goes quiet because he was supposed to mop me up but I changed it all with one punch. Kind of like a lot of my fights in my professional career. So that first day of sparring I was covered in blood because my mouth was bleeding, my nose was bleeding and I remember hanging that shirt up and saying that will never happen to me again and then I knocked the kid out in sparring and my trainer said 'Hey we got something here, this kid can punch' and it went from there.
Q: If you weren't a professional fighter what job do you think you'd have now?
A: "I really don't know as far as what job I'd be doing, although I will say this; the only time I got a rush similar to fighting, or walking out in the arena at the MGM Grand, 23,000 in attendance, everyone watching at home and you're going to fight the best in the world, the rush that I got that was similar to that rush would be when I did a ride along with the cops. On the ride along we did five arrests and that similar rush to being in the ring I got that feeling in the ride along, not knowing what to expect, maybe being in the line of fire, you always have to be alert."
Q: You've fought a lot of good fighters in your career but what was the toughest fight of your career?
A: "I always took the significant fight, the tough guy, even if on paper it looked like I was going to get smoked I still took the fight because I'm going to change the fight. I think that's why the fans have kept me relevant because I'm always there to fight and my fights are always exciting. With that being said, the toughest guy I believe, and I know this is going to sound crazy but the fight against Adrien Broner. Everyone thought 'Molina laid down for him because they paid him to lay down' absolutely not. Adrien is just a slippery guy, very athletically inclined, very talented, very fast and if he's on his game he'll make it hard for anybody. Just like this fight coming up with Jessie (Vargas), if Broner is on his game, which I believe he will be, I think it's going to be a tough night for Jessie. I think Jessie can win, I just don't think Jessie possesses the power to make Broner respect him.Q: Of all your opponents who had the best chin?
A: "The best chin hands down would be (Ruslan) Provodnikov. I could hit that guy with a brick and he wouldn't have went anywhere. I mean I was tagging that guy, I was cracking him. I threw 1,100 punches in that fight and landed 700 jabs over the course of 12 rounds and I was cracking him. I have to say, Provodnikov definitely had a head like an anvil. I hurt him to the body but I didn't finish him because I didn't think he was ever significantly hurt during the fight and I really cracked this guy."
Q: You've faced some big punchers in your career, who was the heaviest hitter?
A: "As far as punching goes I would say, and I know it makes sense, I would say (Lucas) Matthysse. Although in the heat of the battle I felt like we were able to weather the storm a little bit even though I was coming up in weight.
Q: Your 2014 fight against Lucas Matthysse was Big Time Boxing's Fight of the Year, what's it like to be a part of a classic slugfest like that?
A: I'm not complaining about who won or who lost the fight. I'm saying it was a great fight, it was a fun fight, a fan friendly fight but I had reporters that have been in the business for 30 years pull me aside and say 'John, this is the first fight I've ever had to just turn away and couldn't watch because it was so gruesome' in regards to the punches that were landed. One guy told me it sounded like 'watermelons exploding' when we were hitting each other. It was definitely a significant fight, a good fight, but it's one of those fights that I wish I could do over again. Unfortunately I don't ever see it happening again because of the politics of the game."
Q: Of all the wins in your career, which victory are you most proud of?
A: "I mean you could say the Mickey Bey fight where I was losing on all the cards and getting outpointed and I comeback and knock him out with 58 seconds left in the fight. You could say the fight where I'm down 10 rounds to one against Hank Lundy early in my career and I comeback to knock him out in the 11th round. You can say the Provodnikov fight where I was an 11-1 underdog and smoked him in the fight and actually showed a wrinkle in my game that no one knew I possessed in regards to my jab and my boxing ability."Q: Boxing fans love to debate about mythical match-ups. If you could fight anyone, active or retired, who would it be?
A: "I think a fight with me and Arturi Gatti would have been a war at 140. It would have been very similar to Micky Ward and Arturo Gatti. To me in regards to tough guy and a guy who's always in it, I believe I'm a bigger puncher than Gatti but the guy brought a lot to the table. I would love to fight, if we're going back to the 80s, a fight with me and Vinny Pazienza at 140 would be a barn burner. I think these guys are throwback fighters, take 40 to give one and be in it until you can't go anymore. And to me the fight is never over and it's not a fluke, I've proven it over and over and over again. I think I'm the most dramatic fighter in recent history and I've proven the fight is never over until it's really over."
Q: Something that gets debated constantly is who the greatest fighter ever is. Who do you consider to be the greatest to ever lace up a pair of gloves?
A: "The greatest of all-time is between two and it's crazy because they fought each other. It's between "Sugar" Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran. I'll say Roberto Duran because in order to beat a prime "Sugar" Ray Leonard you've got to be an SOB, you've got to be a real special talent to beat a prime "Sugar" Ray Leonard. And the only guy to really do that in his prime was Roberto Duran. Then you had "Sugar" Ray Leonard come back and avenge that loss against Roberto Duran by making him quit but I've spoken to Roberto Duran directly and he said the words 'no mas' never came out of his mouth. I think Floyd (Mayweather) is a definite defensive master, I think he's a definite talent, but of our era. I'm not taking anything away from Floyd, I think he's the best of our era in boxing but I believe in my heart of hearts, in my humble opinion, I believe if he fought in the era of the late 70s or early 80s I don't think that zero would be there still. With guys like (Julio Cesar) Chavez, Meldrick Taylor, Roberto Duran, "Sugar" Ray Leonard, (Marvin) Hagler, and (Thomas) Hearns I don't see Floyd being undefeated in that era.
Q: Who would you rank as the number one pound for pound fighter in the sport right now?
A: "Number one pound for pound right now would be a toss-up between Mikey Garcia, Terence Crawford, and (Vasyl) Lomachenko. I think it's between those three guys.
Q: Boxing is a sport that has its share of problems, if you could change one thing about the sport what would it be?
A: "For me, and again this is my opinion and it lends itself more to my style, but I would change it from 12 rounds back to 15 rounds. I get why they don't do it for the health of the fighter and I respect that but stylistically a 15 round fight makes more sense for me. For my style, my power it would give me more time to pull the fight out of the fire."
Comments
Post a Comment