Talk about insult to injury for John Molina Jr.
After extending his losing streak to three fights in a one-sided affair against Adrien Broner in the March 7 debut of Premier Boxing Champions on NBC. The junior welterweight tested positive for a banned diuretic during random drug testing. Tuesday morning, the Nevada State Athletic Commission held it’s monthly agenda hearing, where Molina was issued a temporary suspension.
Although Adrien Broner came in one pound over the contracted limit, the brash former three-division world champion from Cincinnati never found himself in trouble against Molina. Broner was criticized by his opponent for not keeping his promise of standing and taking part in a dog fight.
The boxing community did not respond kindly to Molina, which blasted the 32-year old for failing to give Broner credit for fighting smart and not getting himself into dangerous situations.
With a temporary suspension in place, Molina has to face the music – that being the Nevada State Athletic Commission – and plead his case. If things don’t go his way, he is likely to receive a full suspension and be forced to fork over a percentage of the $450,000 he earned on March 7th.
The former WBO NABO lightweight champion hasn’t won since he knocked out Jorge Pimentel (28-25) in November 2013; who came into the fight winless in five of his last seven. Pimentel had been knocked out in each shortcoming. Since the Molina fight, he as gone 1-5 with four consecutive knockout losses, not exactly stellar.
Although his fight against Argentinian powerhouse Lucas Matthysse in April 2014 was named as Fight of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America. Molina was knocked out in the 11th round and hasn’t looked the same since.
We wish John Molina Jr. the best, and we hope the best comes out in this situation.