John Molina, JR Vs Victor Ortiz: Major Crossroads Fight and a Possible Fight of the Year Candidate
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By Rich “Lite It Up” Lopez
As we look forward to the rest of the year in boxing, we have already been treated to some great fights already. Fights such as Deontay Wilder Vs Luis Ortiz, Oscar Valdez Vs Scott Quigg, Abner Mares Vs Leo Santa Cruz II, Vasyl Lomachenko Vs Jorge Linares, Juan Francisco Estrada Vs Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, Alex Saucedo Vs Lenny Zappavigna, and most recently Canelo Vs GGG 2, are all fight of the year candidates. We are still not over yet and there are more fights coming up for the rest of the year to look forward to. Next weekend on September 30th, at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California, it looks like boxing fans will be treated to another great match up. John Molina, JR. will battle Victor Ortiz in a welterweight bout. Not only are we looking at an action packed fight but this will be a major crossroads fight.
John Molina, JR., 30-7, 24 KO’s, from California, has been boxing professionally for 12 years. He has scored victories over some of the top fighters such as Henry Lundy, Mikey Bey, and Ruslan Provodnikov. The Provodnikov fight is Molina’s biggest win thus far in his career. However Molina is more known for providing some of the toughest challenges to the best fighters but always coming up short in defeat. He has also fought for a world title twice. He lost to Antonio DeMarco for a Lightweight title and to Terrence Crawford for a Super Lightweight title. Either way, you don’t want to miss a Molina fight as he is considered as the modern day Arturo Gatti. His shootout with Lucas Matthysse in 2014 was Ring Magazine’s Fight of the Year. Just last year, Molina was involved in another shootout with Ivan Redkach. Molina hit the canvas in round two before coming back and stopping Redkach in the 4th round. With this victory, he set himself up with another profile fight against Victor Ortiz.
Victor “Vicious” Ortiz, 32-6-3, 25 KO’s, also from California, has been boxing professionally for 14 years. If you go back 10 years ago, Ortiz seemed to be the goods. He was a good boxer with punching power. He was named ESPN’s Prospect of the Year in 2008 and seemed to be the next great champion. That all came crashing down when he met Marcos Maidana in a slugfest where Ortiz ultimately quit in the fight. Afterwards Ortiz did rack up a couple wins which landed him a title shot at Welterweight for the WBC title against Andre Berto. Both fighters went at it and it was Ring Magazine’s 2011 Fight of the Year. Ortiz’s championship was short lived however as he lost to Floyd Mayweather, JR. the same year. Since then it has been an up and down battle for Ortiz. Ortiz seemed to be focus more on movies than boxing. His defeats to Josesito Lopez, Luis Collazo, and Andre Berto (rematch), reflected this. Even though he was stopped in those fights, he did show lack of heart. Earlier this year, Ortiz drew with Devon Alexander in a crossroads fight, but most observers felt that Alexander deserved the victory.
As both fighters get ready to meet up next weekend, a win is needed for both fighters in order for them to continue with their boxing careers. This will come down to who wants it more. Ortiz is the better skilled fighter of the two, but has shown to lack heart when the tough gets going. Molina, JR. is not as skilled as Ortiz, but has shown the heart of a warrior and you can never count him out in battle. With that being said, this is an even match up and based on their styles, it’s a fight you can’t miss. Make sure to mark this fight on your calendar!
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