There are some stories in Boxing that are go hand and hand with the sport. One of the most common is the story of a former world champion continuing on with their career in search of another opportunity at a world championship. Former IBF Jr. Middleweight world champion Carlos Molina is one such tale of a former champion that has continued on in hopes of getting another opportunity at a world title. Some may recall Molina winning the IBF crown from Cory Spinks in February 2013 in winning a twelve round unanimous decision to take the title from the former two-division world champion. After a successful title defense over former world champion Ishe Smith later that year, Molina lost his crown to Cornelius Bundrage in October 2014.
Since then, Molina’s career inside the ring has seen the ups and downs that many fighters experience over the course of a long career. Along the way, Molina has taken a route that some boxers have in choosing to take a true entrepreneurial approach to his career by becoming a promoter and choosing to compete under his own promotional banner. In more recent times, this has included staging cards in his native Mexico in the midst of the ongoing global COVID-19 epidemic in being one of the first promoters that was able to resume staging events even if it came under circumstances where no spectators have been allowed to attend. Molina has also taken advantage of ever evolving technology by using the power of the internet to stream his events to a worldwide audience including through Facebook among other platforms.
After building an unbeaten run of eight bouts in which he scored knockouts in four of those fights, Molina traveled to Coventry, England in May of this year where he lost a twelve round unanimous decision to former European Welterweight champion Sam Eggington in a Middleweight bout. Although he came out on the losing end of the decision in that fight, Molina showed his veteran know how in pushing Eggington throughout and gave a good account of himself in defeat.
Now with a record of 37-12-2, with 12 Knockouts, Molina now prepares to take a step forward in an effort to bounce back as he will face Juan Carlos Raygosa on Friday, September 24th at the Posada Hotel Don Vasco in Patzcuaro, Mexico in a card promoted by Molina’s King Carlos Promotions and streamed globally by digital combat sports network and pay-per-view platform FITE TV.
This will be a rematch of a fight that Molina and Raygosa had in November of last year in which Molina was able to score a ten round unanimous decision. Although Raygosa can be described by a term that this observer does not like to use, as a “Journeyman”, as he will enter this rematch with Molina with a record of 17-17-3, with 6 Knockouts, he has only been stopped in four of those seventeen career defeats and has not been stopped in his last eight bouts stretching over the last two years.
While this frankly has all the appearance of a “Stay Busy” and a “Bounce Back” fight for Molina given his opponent’s record and the fact that Raygosa will enter having lost two of his last five including the loss to Molina, the bottom line is fighters like Raygosa do serve a role in the sport that can be underappreciated by some fans, a fighter who is willing to get in the ring on a frequent basis, at times on short notice, regardless of who the opposition might be. As a result, despite the appearance that a record like the one Raygosa will have going into this fight, these type of fighters are often the most active in the sport because if nothing else, they almost always give a solid effort win or lose and their willingness to fight as often as possible, will often make them an asset to many promoters who look to fill out their cards.
What this fight does boil down to for Molina at least in terms of his career as a fighter is whether or not he will be able to bounce back from a setback earlier this year and continue the overall momentum he has been able to build in recent years even if the majority of his victories in recent times has come against opposition that some may hold in little regard. Much like Raygosa, Carlos Molina is a veteran of the Boxing ring and the bottom line is the more active a fighter is, the better that fighter’s odds of being ready to step into an opportunity whether that comes in the form of a world championship bout, or a bout against a rising or top contender is. The more active a fighter is, the more that fighter is able to win, the better the chance that the phone will ring with the next potential opportunity.
Whether or not an opportunity will come for the former world champion to challenge once more for a world title remains to be seen. Molina does have one thing going for him in that he does have himself set up to continue in the sport after his career inside the ring is over. Something that frankly all fighters regardless of their standing in the sport, the level in which they compete on, should all learn from.
“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”
Molina vs. Raygosa II takes place on Friday, September 24th at the Posada Hotel Don Vasco in Patzcuaro, Mexico. The fight as well as it’s full undercard can be seen globally on digital combat sports network and pay-per-view platform FITE TV beginning at 8PM ET/5PM for $9.99 (U.S. Time.) For more information on FITE, including schedules and for instructions on how to download the FITE app on mobile, tablet, and connected streaming devices/platforms/Smart TVs, please visit: http://www.FITE.TV. To order Molina vs. Raygosa II download the FITE app or click the following link: ▷ "King" Carlos Molina vs Juan Carlos Raygoza II - Official PPV Live Stream - FITE. For more information on King Carlos Promotions please visit King Carlos Promotions Official Facebook page: www.facebook.com/KingCarlosPromotions.
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