Photo by Tom Hogan / Golden Boy Promotions
Carlos Molina is coming off the longest layoff of his career to fight Adrien Broner on the undercard of the pay-per-view showdown between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Marcos Maidana.
He is also coming off the first loss of his career.
Molina was stopped in the tenth round of a Junior Welterweight bout against Amir Khan in November of 2012. Molina suffered a cut that eventually forced his corner to tell the referee to stop the fight.
Molina, however, feels it was a learning experience.
“That was by far the biggest fight that I’ve had, fighting an elite fighter like Amir Khan,” Molina told Round By Round Boxing.
“I learned a lot, fighting someone with a lot of experience like that. I know I’m able to compete at that level.”
Molina will have to prove that he can continue to fight at an elite level this Saturday against a heavy favorite in Broner. With a size, reach, and power disadvantage, Molina will not have it easy against Broner.
Nevertheless, Molina feels he is better prepared.
Molina, who hails from Norwalk, California, switched his training camp to the House of Boxing in San Diego, California. The House of Boxing is owned by the Barragan family and has recently been the place where Josesito Lopez and Chris Arreola have held their training camps.
Molina is now trained by Carlos Barragan, one of the founding members of the House of Boxing gym.
“He’s been working on sharpening my tools and he motivates me to work hard,” Molina said of his new trainer.
Molina feels that boxing is in large part a psychological sport and that he’ll need to bring the right mind-set to the ring.
“This game is more mental than anything else. I’ve been working on getting my mind strong.”
That includes having a strong game plan and looking at Broner’s previous fights, most of which he dominated. Molina will be hard-pressed to find the right game plan, other than the one used by a veritable power-punching machine in Maidana.
Besides the game plan, there is an element of confidence in himself and his team.
“I believe I got the tools to beat him. I’m going to be smart, I’m going to be letting my hands fly,” said Molina.
“We’re going to surprise a lot of people come May 3.”
