Deontay Wilder Stops a Tough as Nails Eric Molina in the 9th

By Travis “Novel” Fleming

WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, 34-0, 33 KO’s, stopped Eric Molina, 23-3, 17 KO’s, in the eighth round, in the first defense of his title in front of a packed hometown crown in Alabama. Molina was criticized by many, including me, as a weak opponent but I stand corrected. Apologies to Molina, he has a ton of heart, a decent punch, patience and ring acumen. In fact, in 34 fights only one man has lasted longer than Molina against the heavy handed Bronze Bomber.

Molina was dropped five times in the fight, but managed to expose some flaws in Wilder’s defense, and he was one of maybe three Wilder opponents to date to land some decent blows. He has a sneaky uppercut that found its mark occasionally, and he even managed to hurt Wilder on a couple of occasions. He also becomes one of the first men to win a round over Wilder, and I personally gave him two. He showed Deontay is wide open to the body, landing several sharp digs to Wilder’s lanky frame. He also exposed Wilder’s habit of moving back in straight lines to avoid punches, something a fighter with a longer reach could take serious advantage of. Molina did a great job of taking away Deontay’s incredibly powerful right hand with counters that made Wilder cautious of letting it go, unfortunately for Molina that brought out the left hook. All in all, Molina did great and showed that he is a better fighter than he was given credit for after getting stopped by Chris Arreola. He’s not a world beater, but he’s definitely a top 30 guy.

Wilder showed he is still learning on the job, and admitted as much afterwards. In the post fight interview, he also stated that he and his team were working on being better technicians, and that he’s trying to remain composed and not as wild as he once was. Perhaps a “wilder” Wilder would have let loose and stopped Molina sooner. Either way, he needs more rounds. I will give him credit for being more poised, he’s going to need that against the better heavyweights, where swinging carelessly for the fences until someone’s knocked out, like the Wilder of a couple years ago did, can get you caught and knocked out by men who can remain patient under fire, and slip in a powerful counter when you’re wide open swinging. By letting the knockout come to him, instead of savagely swinging until it comes, Wilder is showing improvement. He also threw body punches for the first time and improved his jab, which is looking very good these days mixing to the head and body with power.

Prior to this fight, I rated Wilder a little further along in his development than he appears to be, he’s still a top notch talent with a huge upside, but he needs more polishing. Using a guy like Molina to try and work on his technical side could make sense in the long run, if he learns from his mistakes, because he needs to improve on a few areas his technical game, and his defense, that might have been exploited by someone with more size or ability. Wilder did show that he’s been working on some new things in the gym, like a powerful left hook that floored Molina at the end of round four.

Before the fight, I thought he was the prime candidate to be the heir to the heavyweight throne, but after tonight, I don’t think he’s ready for heavyweight kingpin Wladimir Klitschko, 64-3, 53 KO’s. In fact, Alexander Povetkin, 29-1, 21 KO’s, is his mandatory, and as much as I’ll be cheering for Wilder, I don’t like his chances against Povetkin right now, as Povetkin might hit as hard as anyone in the world and he is capable technically with a ton of experience, and craftiness. If Povetkin landed the kind of punches Molina landed tonight against any heavyweight in the world, they would likely be our out cold for the count.

Wilder’s vulnerability tonight makes his mandatory defense against Povetkin even more intriguing. The winner will get a shot at Klitschko, and the privilege of holding all four major heavyweight titles. It doesn’t get better than that. Let’s hope Wilder learns from his mistakes, and his trainer Mark Breland has him improve in those areas before he faces the dangerous Povetkin.

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