February 1st in the “Windy City”- Chicago, Illinois, Carlos Molina will meet up with Cory Spinks. This bout is an IBF light middleweight title eliminator. You expect these two styles to clash and it will be a very close fight that more than likely will go to the scorecards. Molina is a very tactical and crafty fighter, while Spinks uses his fast hands to mix it up. The fight will be aired on ESPN2 on the Friday Night Fight series with Antwone Smith vs. Jose Luis Castillo on the undercard. The same card also features Don ‘Da Bomb’ George and his friend, up and coming super middleweight star Mike ‘Hollywood’ Jimenez.
Carlos Molina’s last memorable fight was against James Kirkland, which ended controversially, when Molina was disqualified for his corner man entering the ring during a knockdown. Since then Kirkland has went on record and admitted that his corner gave him “black pills” before the Molina fight. Molina all but shut out Kirkland until the tenth round knockdown and disqualification. If Molina can get past Spinks, he will finally get his long awaited shot at a title. In my opinion if Molina could handle Kirkland’s power than Bundrage, the current IBF title holder, won’t be a problem. Carlos Molina may be the IBF junior middleweight champion in late 2013.
While Molina is more tactically sound, Spinks style may give him the slight advantage, if it goes to the score cards. He fights more aggressively and is more eye-catching. His last two loses were both to Cornelius Bundrage and both by knockout. Luckily for Spinks, Molina isn’t known for his power punching. Spinks will need to keep Molina at range because on the inside, Molina will tie him up and keep him from scoring, then land some of his own shots. If Spinks wins, he has a good chance of meeting Bundrage a third time. Regardless with a title shot on the line, you can be sure that both guys will come to fight.
My prediction for this fight is simple. Styles make fights and this fight will be no exception. Neither guy has enough pop to knock the other one out, so it comes down to the scorecards. Spinks style is more crowd pleasing and will bring in a close victory. If Molina stays more active than Spinks he can pull out the win but I just don’t see that happening. Continuing Molina’s close and controversial loses, Spinks will win by a split decision.
Do you see the fighting ending differently? Then leave your comments or predictions below. Don’t forget to follow us on twitter @ThaBoxingvoice and me @lucasbiggers213. I will be tweeting live at the fights, so feel free to join in. Also don’t forget to listen in to ‘Tha Boxing Voice Radio’ show that’s airs every Thursday and Sunday. Be sure to tune into this title eliminator on ESPN2. Thanks for reading and Happy New Year!
