Spoiler Alert: Deontay Wilder Crushes an Overmatched Eric Molina in the 1st Round
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By Travis “Novel” Fleming
Spoiler alert: Deontay Wilder, 33-0, 32 KO’s, retains his WBC heavyweight title by destroying Eric Molina, 23-2, 17 KO’s, in the first round. This is what I am predicting you will see in my post fight wrap up on Ringside Report after the fight.
Not much to write about here, the fight is a joke. It’s only happening to ensure a spectacular, hype building, showing by Wilder in front of his hometown fans in what will be the first championship fight ever held in Alabama.
It’s an absolute farce of a “world title” fight. Molina is barely a top 50 heavyweight, he has no business being in there with a champion, in fact, he could end up getting severely injured. In Molina’s only previous appearance on a major fight card, he was flattened in one round by Chris Arreola, 36-4, 31 KO’s, back in 2012, the same Arreola who was KO’d by Wilder’s most recent victim Bermane Stiverne, 24-2-1, 21 KO’s. I understand that the circumstances surrounding Wilder’s first defense lead to an opponent who isn’t going to be a top ten guy, but they could have at least picked a top thirty heavyweight. The fight was made on short notice, and it’s in Wilder’s home state of Alabama, meaning the money for an opponent wasn’t big. Wilder is coming off of a broken hand, so it was never going to be a killer for an opponent as Wilder needs to test out that right hand to make sure it has healed correctly. Obviously no big name, or highly ranked, heavyweights are going to be keen on facing Wilder in front of his home crowd, for low money, with a short amount of time to train and prepare properly, but I’m sure there are several top thirty heavyweights that would have jumped at the opportunity to win a world title, despite the low money, who would be far more legitimate than Molina.
I’m a big fan of Wilder, so this defense really disappoints me. I truly believe he can beat any heavyweight alive, including heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko (don’t get me wrong, I also feel Klitshcko, Alexander Povetkin, David Haye, and more could beat him as well). Wilder impressed in winning the title from Bermane Stiverne in a shutout decision with a broken right hand where he showed he has boxing skill, and a decent chin, to add to his bone crunching power. Up until last year, when he finally started fighting ranked fighters, Wilder wasted a lot of time destroying fighters on Molina’s level. Knocking out Molina will impress no one but the casual fans and his hometown crowd, it will do absolutely nothing for his legacy or development. It’s a shame because I thought that after impressively dominating Stiverne to win his title, that Wilder would not be able revert to fighting no hopers, and would be testing his mettle against highly ranked heavyweights from now on. To find a Wilder opponent as weak as Molina, you’d have to go back to January of 2013 when he knocked out Matthew Greer, at the time 15-8, 13 KO’s. Are we really seeing Wilder revert to the level of opposition he was facing back then?
Luckily, in the aftermath of this sanctioned execution, there is some positive news. This Molina fight is just a “stay busy” type of fight, and once its finished, Wilder will enter negotiations for the biggest challenge of his career. Just a couple weeks ago, former heavyweight titlist, and Olympic gold medalist, Alexander Povetkin, 29-1 21 KO’s, continued his reign of terror on the heavyweight division with a ridiculously impressive first round knockout over iron chinned top contender Mike Perez, 21-2-1 13 KO’s. The win made Povetkin the mandatory challenger for Wilder’s WBC belt. Immediately after Povetkin destroyed Perez, Wilder took to twitter to congratulate, and acknowledge the victory, as well Povetkin’s newly earned mandatory status. Credit to Wilder for showing he’s not trying to avoid this dangerous mandatory challenge, he even tweeted that he’s excited to face Povetkin later this year, indicating that this fight has a high probability of going down before the end of 2015. I don’t know how anyone could be excited to face Povetkin after watching that scary knockout, but kudos to Wilder for not going silent, and making it known that he’s ready for the challenge. In having to face Povetkin first before he gets a shot at kingpin Wladimir Klitschko, 64-3, 53 KO’s, Wilder is taking the most difficult path to glory, and should he win impressively, he will demand respect, and will become a favorite over the long reigning Klitschko in the eyes of many.
Klitschko appears to be declining in his old age, after becoming a first time father. He has looked more vulnerable than ever, and it would appear that he’s finally there for the taking. A win over Povetkin would legitimize Wilder’s resume, unfortunately a loss will do irreparable damage, so this is a very risky fight for Wilder who has greatness, and massive paydays, on the horizon. Gypsy giant Tyson Fury, 24-0, 18 KO’s, and Wladimir Klitshcko will be fighting sometime later this year for the WBC, WBA, and WBO titles, and the winner of that fight would likely have a huge demand to face the winner of Povetkin vs Wilder, with all four major belts at heavyweight on the line. It would be the biggest heavyweight fight since Lennox Lewis vs Mike Tyson, and it would elevate the winner to becoming most celebrated heavyweight since the 1990’s.
Imagine if Wilder knocks out Povetkin then knocks out Klitschko for all four major belts? He’s still young for a heavyweight with a bright future, and he’s already got the style, the huge menacing physique, the killer instinct, the charisma, and the nationality to bring the fans in. On top of those traits, if you add power punching Klitschko conquerer, and holder of all four major heavyweight belts, Wilder would be the biggest heavyweight star since Mike Tyson. The world would take notice and be in awe, and fear, of the new baddest man on the planet. He would transcend the sport in one fight more than Klitschko did in a decade and a half. Here’s to hoping Wilder can put an end to the boring Klitschko era, and usher in a new era of competitiveness, and excitement, in boxing’s marquee division.
If anyone cares to watch poor Eric Molina get carried out in a stretcher for being put in the ring with someone so many leagues above him, you can tune into ShowTime which will be airing the massacre. Personally, I’ll be watching the much better card that will be on HBO the same night featuring one of the future stars of boxing in Nicholas Walters, defending his WBA featherweight title against Miguel Marriaga who beat him in the amateur ranks.
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