by James Slater – A few weeks or so back, unbeaten 154-pounder Sergiy Dzinziruk made it known how he very much wanted to fight IBF champion Cory Spinks next. Knowing “The Next Generation” was in need of an opponent for his scheduled date of October 31st in Las Vegas, the tall southpaw from Ukraine put his name forward. Well, Spinks hasn’t got Dzinziruk next, but he is fighting in Vegas on October 31st – Halloween night..
Set to make the first defence in his second reign as IBF 154-pound champ, southpaw Spinks, 37-5(11) will meet Mexico’s Carlos Molina on the Don King promoted card that is headlined by Joseph Abgeko-Yonnhy Perez. Molina, a tough 26-year-old with a decent 17-4-1(5) pro record, is probably best known for holding Julio Cesar Chavez Junior to a controversial draw back in December of 2005. Most people thought the man nicknamed “King” deserved the win that night, and now the man who has never been stopped as a pro goes for his first world title.
After the draw with Chavez Junior, Molina lost three back-to-back decisions (including one in a return with Chavez), but he then went on to win all of his next nine fights; his last win being a June victory over fellow tough guy and former WBO welterweight title challenger Danny Perez. Aside from an early four-rounder, Molina has only been beaten by good men – with the then unbeaten trio of Chavez, Wayland Willingham and Mike Alvarado earning close decisions over him.
And though the sheer class and skill of 31-year-old Spinks make the champion a definite favourite to keep his title a week on Saturday, Molina will certainly come to fight and fight hard. Despite not being a big puncher (just those 5 KO wins to his name), the 26-year-old is an exciting, high work-rate type of warrior. Sure, he has never met anybody with the silky skills of Spinks, and he may well wind up being out-boxed all night long, but Molina will go right at Spinks in an attempt to make it his night.
Who knows, maybe the relentless pressure his challenger puts on him will be too much for Spinks? Also no banger, with just 11 stoppages on his record, Spinks will very likely have to go all 12-rounds to defeat Molina. It could be an ugly fight, with the styles of the two men not meshing too well, or it could be an unexpectedly exciting fight.
With wins over good fighters like Donald Camarena and Perez to his name, along with the two very close calls he gave Chavez Jr, Molina, though no proven world beater, is a worthy challenger for Spinks. The Mexican hard man will really have done well if he can beat Spinks though.
Look for the IBF champ to win on points, but it could be interesting at times.