- 2 months ago
Sugar Shane Mosley defends his IBF Lightweight Title against John John Molina on HBO Boxing After Dark
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00:00Back to talk to Roy in just a minute.
00:02Next bout upcoming, what did you think of Reid?
00:05He's a prospect.
00:07He's a real, real prospect.
00:09When you have that kind of power, boy, that you can't coach.
00:13That comes with the package.
00:15Ready to look at another fighter with all of the weapons.
00:18Young Shane Mosley at 135 pounds, his 26-0 to this stage of his career,
00:23hasn't achieved as much of the spotlight as some other fighters,
00:27like, for instance, Reid because of his Olympic gold medal.
00:30But there's a growing groundswell of support for the notion that Mosley,
00:34who's called Sugar Shane Mosley,
00:36can in fact be compared to predecessors like Sugar Ray Robinson and Sugar Ray Leonard.
00:42Larry, three months ago when I was in Japan
00:44and you did the blow-by-blow on the bout up in Connecticut,
00:47Mosley looked sensational in beating the very capable Demetrius Savalas.
00:51What do you expect from him tonight?
00:53What a fighter like Mosley does when he creates that high standard
00:57is that we all want to see it again and see it over and over in whatever form it takes.
01:03That's not easy.
01:04But with this young fighter who I've already raised the expectations to much criticism
01:10by comparing his style to Sugar Ray Robinson, let me pile on now.
01:16Let me say that I believe that nobody has come into the lightweight division
01:22as a power boxer, as his father and trainer calls him,
01:26like Mosley, since Roberto Duran.
01:31Now let's see him live up to all of that hype tonight
01:33because it won't be easy against John John Molina.
01:37John John Molina is a terrific old pro,
01:41a happy warrior who just loves to fight and can fight.
01:45He's lost one fight in the last eight years
01:48and that was that bro and maul with Oscar De La Hoya.
01:53Well, which was a pretty close fight.
01:55In fact, our Harold Letterman had scored it with Molina beating De La Hoya
02:00and essentially Roy Jones, Molina gave De La Hoya one of the toughest fights of his career
02:04by throwing at him everything but the kitchen sink.
02:08Elbows, headbutts, holds, rabbit punches, etc., etc.
02:12If he does the same thing to Mosley, is Mosley prepared to look good against a guy like that?
02:17Most definitely. I agree with Larry.
02:18I think Shane Mosley is one of the best lightweights that has ever come along in the lightweight division.
02:23Tonight, if John John comes out and throws everything except the kitchen sink at Shane Mosley,
02:28Shane Mosley is not as nice as Oscar De La Hoya was in his young days.
02:32He's going to throw everything but the kitchen sink back at John John Molina.
02:36So John John has better be prepared for what he's throwing out tonight.
02:39In other words, do unto others as he has them do unto you.
02:42You're saying Mosley has a mean streak to go with all that talent?
02:45A real mean streak.
02:46It's a useful commodity for a fighter as we've seen so many times in the past.
02:50Let's take a look now at the tale of the tape for Sugar Shane Mosley and John John Molina.
02:56They both made the lightweight limit of 135 pounds.
03:00Mosley tells us that he takes months to get down to 135 and then spends a couple of minutes there.
03:07And by tonight, as you see, he weighs 146.
03:10Molina weighs 142.
03:11A seven-inch reach advantage for Mosley could be tactically significant in the fight
03:15because he has an outstanding jab to begin with.
03:19And with the seven-inch reach advantage, it could be double trouble for Molina,
03:22who's also given up seven years in age.
03:24Rules of the bout with our unofficial ringside scorer, Harold Letterman.
03:28The Sugar Shane Mosley-John John Molina fight is scheduled for 12 rounds
03:32using the standardized rules for all-world championship fights.
03:35There is no standing eight count, no three-knockdown rule,
03:38only the referee can stop the fight and cannot be saved by the bell at any round,
03:42including the 12th and final round.
03:44Jim.
03:45All right, Harold.
03:48Now, John John Molina will enter the ring first.
03:51And, of course, a lifelong Puerto Rican who lives in Fajardo, Puerto Rico,
03:56has brought his wife and three children to the fight here tonight.
03:59Mosley commenting yesterday that he wasn't sure it was such a good idea for Molina
04:03to have brought his three children because he doesn't think they'll enjoy what they see very much.
04:08But John John should have plenty of support in the arena tonight.
04:11You can hear them as he exits his dressing room.
04:14I wish we had about 100 more fighters around like John John Molina.
04:26A closer look at Molina.
04:39He's won 24 of his last 25 fights.
04:42The only loss in that span was the one to De La Hoya.
04:45This is his 15th championship fight.
04:47Mosley could scarcely have found a more experienced,
04:50more professional opponent in the lightweight class.
04:54Jason Molina.
05:05Got it.
05:17And here we are.
05:18James Mosley with the wide smile of his father trainer Jack accompanying him into the ring.
05:29James Mosley played the saxophone in his high school marching band,
05:35but he does not blow his own horn as a fighter.
05:39He lets everybody around him do it.
05:42He lets us do it for him.
05:44Not exactly shy about himself, but he's not loud.
05:48And his father has trained him to be, in addition to being a diligent fighter,
05:54a gym rat, a student of the sport.
05:57This guy has sparred with most of the biggest names on the West Coast,
06:01including Gennaro Hernandez.
06:03He had an amateur fight against De La Hoya all the way back when he was 13 years old.
06:07That's 13 years ago.
06:09Three amateur fights against fellow welterweight titleist Stevie Johnston.
06:12Mosley won two.
06:13Never been knocked down in 286 total fights.
06:17He's making his third defense now, the title that he won last summer from Phillip Holliday.
06:22And now let's go to Michael Buffer for the official introductions.
06:28Ladies and gentlemen, from the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort of Atlantic City, New Jersey,
06:40Cedric Kushner Promotions, along with your undisputed, undefeated king of beers, Budweiser.
06:47This, Bud's for you, present 12 rounds of boxing for the IBF Lightweight Championship of the World.
06:57Sanctioned by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board,
07:01Boxing Commissioner Larry Hazard Sr., Chairman Jerry Gormley,
07:05Board Members Gary Shaw and Stephen Katz,
07:08Deputy Commissioner John Greco.
07:09Your four physicians at ringside are Dr. Dominic Coletta, Jr.,
07:14Dr. Richard Snippard, Dr. Charles Wilson, and Dr. Eric Wormser.
07:19Timekeeper at the bell, Roosevelt Gilbert.
07:22Counting for the knockdown seconds, alternate referee, Rudy Battle.
07:26This belt is also sanctioned by the International Boxing Federation.
07:29President, Robert W. Lee, supervisor at ringside for the IBF, is Darrell Peoples.
07:35The three judges assigned to score this ballot on a 10-point must-system will be
07:40Deborah Barnes, Paul Herman, and Fred Jones.
07:44And when the bell rings, the referee in charge of the action, Ed Johnson.
07:50And now, ladies and gentlemen, from the Trump Taj Mahal of Atlantic City, New Jersey,
07:56let's get ready to rumble!
07:59Let's get ready to rumble!
08:05Introducing first, fighting out of the blue corner,
08:09wearing white trunks trimmed with red and blue,
08:12and weighing in at 135 pounds.
08:16His professional record, an excellent one, 45 victories,
08:2030 knockouts to his credit with only four losses.
08:23Ladies and gentlemen, from Fajardo, Puerto Rico,
08:27here is the former three-time champion of the world,
08:33the challenger, John John Molina!
08:42And his opponent across the ring, fighting out of the red corner,
08:46also weighing in at 135 pounds.
08:49He's wearing red, trimmed with gold, and comes to us from Pomona, California.
08:55His professional record, a perfect 26 victories without a loss,
09:0024 knockouts to his credit.
09:03Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the undefeated
09:07RBF lightweight champion of the world,
09:12Sugar Shane Mosley!
09:19John John, Shane!
09:26John John!
09:27Okay, John John, Shane,
09:34I'm going to go into the dressing room.
09:37I expect a good, clean fight.
09:38Touch the love when the bell, rain, come out fighting.
09:41Touch it up, guys.
09:41Come on, touch it up.
09:43John John Molina has always given his best,
09:46and that's always, almost always been good enough to win.
09:51He may have to give better than his best tonight.
09:55What does he have left at 33?
09:58Well, one thing he has left is, for a lightweight,
10:02the legs of a middleweight,
10:03you look at the size and the strength of Molina's legs,
10:06it'll make him a little bit tougher to knock out
10:08than some other opponents might be.
10:11Hard right hand over the top by Mosley to start things off.
10:17Molina does keep his left hand low,
10:20so that's another inviting target for a big puncher like Mosley.
10:24Mosley.
10:26Mosley starts off throwing lead right hands
10:28to try to take advantage of that low left hand by Molina.
10:31Yes, but Mosley can't get too anxious.
10:33If he does, he'll find himself in the same situation
10:35that Oscar found himself in.
10:36Come on, come on, come on, come on, guys.
10:37Punch out of him.
10:39Boy, a lot of people thought the Ceballos fight
10:41three months ago represented Mosley's best performance.
10:44What kind of progress did you see him making there?
10:46I saw him as a great deal of progress.
10:47He wasn't too impatient.
10:49He took his time.
10:50He worked his opponent's body.
10:51He wore his opponent down, and then he destroyed him.
10:53That's the way you should do it, man.
10:56Oh, man.
10:56Punch out of him.
10:59Right.
11:00Step back.
11:01One minute into the first round,
11:03Mosley not yet working to establish his jab.
11:05He's got a good one.
11:07Watch the head.
11:08Watch the head.
11:08Watch the head.
11:09Reason being, Jim,
11:10is he's trying to find out can Jon Jon take his power shots early.
11:13He has a little bit more respect for Jon Jon than he has for previous opponents.
11:43Molina, a guy who stays in shape.
11:47He's used to fighting six, seven times a year.
11:49He's used to winning, as we've pointed out.
11:56Stable family man.
11:57No bad habits.
11:58Ready to fight every time he comes into the ring.
12:00And going to the body quite a bit here in the early part of the fight.
12:11Molina landing his right-hand shot to the neck of Mosley.
12:15The reason he was able to land that shot, Jim,
12:17is because Mosley's back is straight up from Molina.
12:20He's not going left or right with his back.
12:22He's going straight back.
12:23Come on.
12:25So Molina just followed along and went with him.
12:28Follow him to that spot.
12:29Mosley, as Molina holds on to his left arm,
12:36takes advantage to rake him with right-hand shots.
12:39Molina accusing Mosley of fouling.
12:41Referee Ed Johnson says, hey.
12:45Straighten up and fly right.
12:48And Molina immediately begins some of the nonsense you saw against Della Hoya
12:52holding Mosley around the back of the head with his left arm.
12:55There's not nonsense, there's protection,
12:57and there's anything you can to disrupt the young fighters.
13:00Now break!
13:01Break!
13:01Break!
13:01He's going to be right here.
13:08He's standing in front of you, then you're not boxing.
13:11He gave you the goose of your eye right there, so...
13:14He's hair bunny.
13:15Yeah, but she's going to be in front of you.
13:17Boxing might be like we said we would do.
13:19Okay?
13:20He needs someone to die right here.
13:21There was the right hand early in the round by Mosley and later Molina after throwing
13:49some body shots comes right over the top with his right hand pretty even by punch that numbers
14:05Mosley landing 18 to 47 only 10 to 39 for Molina but Molina's 10 punches landed were all power shots
14:12most of them to the body jimmy's could turn it to a condition fight who's ever in the best
14:16condition could be the winner of this fight why do you say that right well because both
14:21guys are kind of even right now nobody has established a supreme dominance in the fight
14:26yet and if it continues to go this way whoever weakens first would be the guy who would be
14:30dominated and you heard jack mosley asking his son between rounds to box Molina
14:37shane's still not having established his jab
14:52Molina landing just under the chin of mosley so he's now landed to the side of the neck and the front of
14:59Molina doesn't expect to make it pretty he just wants to get the leather on you somehow he's all about
15:14winning jim
15:29punch out of the court right step back
15:31hard right hand by Molina driving mosley back into the ropes john john molina making a physical imprint
15:43on the bout midway through round two there again shane mosley's backing straight up and it's allowing him
15:49to be wise for those great punches that john john's throwing
16:03to be wise for those great punches to be wise is that's the only way but he's not uh
16:10uh
16:26get my hands for them come on come on come on come on i'm going to punch in the punch in there
16:28All right, right hand to the body by Mosley, or check it by Molina, I should say, and then
16:37Mosley landed a left uppercut return, and Molina comes back with a right hand of his
16:41own.
16:42Molina's a very smart fighter.
16:43He sits out there, he bounces, he loves the guy to be still.
16:46Just when the guy thinks he's not coming is when he comes.
16:49So they're never expecting him to attack when he attacks.
16:54Yeah, he has a kind of a staccato style.
16:58It's a hip-hop rhythm.
17:00And it's so hard for these counterpunches to counter-hit because they don't know when it's coming.
17:07And he likes it.
17:10He just likes it.
17:14And as we go to John John Molina's corner where they speak Spanish, our interpreter is Hector
17:19Garcia.
17:21You're doing really good.
17:23You're doing great.
17:25Give me some water.
17:28You have the conditions.
17:37You can do this.
17:38You have better conditions.
17:39You've worked a lot for this.
17:41You have better conditions.
17:44You have the conditions for this.
17:46It's like a machine.
17:47He can't beat you.
17:48You're like a machine.
17:49And you're very smart over everything.
17:53You're very smart.
17:53And the experience is there.
17:57Molina said to us that Mosley's never fought anyone like him.
18:02And I think Molina was absolutely right.
18:04Round three, John John Molina against Shane Mosley.
18:14Mosley, the heavy favorite, of course.
18:16Extraordinarily talented young fighter.
18:18Molina with his unusual style, giving Mosley all he can handle in the first couple of rounds.
18:23Right hand landed for Mosley.
18:33And as Molina momentarily stops punching, Shane comes in.
18:36Now Molina firing back.
18:37Anytime Molina can make Mosley wait and look for the big punches, he can land punches.
18:56Mosley trying to wrestle Molina into the ropes.
19:01Right hand lands over the top for Mosley.
19:03And this time Molina is wobbled.
19:05Mosley expending a lot of energy.
19:15And Molina comes back with a right hand shot to the bank.
19:17Let's go, let's go.
19:18Come on.
19:19Right.
19:21Come on, guys.
19:22Right.
19:30Touchdown.
19:31Come on, guys.
19:31Touchdown.
19:32Come on, guys.
19:32Go, right.
19:33Hold, hold.
19:34Time.
19:34Watch the hand.
19:36Watch the hand.
19:36Molina was knocked down in the first round by De La Hoya.
19:40Then gave De La Hoya a lot of trouble for the next ten rounds.
19:43In the twelfth round, De La Hoya came out and closed the show with a brilliant display that
19:48made him the winner in the fight.
19:51Come on, Bryant.
19:52Come on, Bryant.
19:57Roy, do you think Mosley did have Molina hurt earlier in the round?
20:00Oh, he had him hurt more differently.
20:01Oh, he had him hurt more differently.
20:01He hasn't hurt him right now.
20:04He's a bigger puncher in this break than De La Hoya was.
20:06Come on, Bryant.
20:15If he takes his time to quit trying to knock John out, he'll eventually land a knockout punch to knock him out.
20:20But as long as he's looking for it, he may have a hard time.
20:22Osley getting in a little left hook after the right hand.
20:35Osley getting in a little left hook after the right hand.
20:50And you saw the excellent footwork of the young champion as he pivoted into position to fire that left hook.
20:56And he has such quick hands, Jim.
20:57It's so beautiful to watch him throw these quick combinations.
21:01He's a real classic fighter.
21:03That he is.
21:04He can't take it.
21:13He's 33 years old.
21:15I can see him fading right now.
21:16Okay?
21:17He can't take it.
21:18Those body shots, if you go to the body, take that air out, you knock him out within eight rounds.
21:25I mean, don't throw cars into the wind now.
21:27Okay.
21:28But get close enough so you can nail some more of those right hands.
21:30He's dropping his head.
21:31He's shooting the right hand.
21:33If his head goes over the way, come back with a left hook.
21:36But you're setting him up with a left hook.
21:39Let's Mosley operate as he throws punches around the left hand of Molina.
21:45Molina almost looks improvised because Molina is keeping that left out there to ward off the straight right hand.
21:55Roy.
21:55That left hand is used a good defense mechanism against a straight right lead, Larry.
22:13Mosley smiling across the ring at you, Roy, and shaking his head as if to say, huh, he's a rough customer.
22:19Yeah, he's complaining a little bit about the headbutts, I think, but he's coming back.
22:26There was a little scrape over Mosley's left eye at the end of round one, but Cassius Green, the cut man, has done good work with that.
22:33And you saw Mosley landing that quick step in left hook against Molina to stop Molina in his tracks momentarily.
22:44Now Molina gets a little left hook in.
22:46Yeah, but Molina's punches have lost the steam that they once had on.
22:49Good call by the referee, Eddie Johnson.
23:05Although Molina's glove touched the canvas, it was obviously more of a push than a punch that got in there.
23:11Yeah, but Molina seems to be weakening now.
23:14You see Shane guiding him around the ring with one hand now.
23:17At the beginning of the fight, they both were manhandling one another.
23:23Punch him, punch him, let him go.
23:26Punch out, punch out, guy, punch him there.
23:35Well, the point you made in the opening on camera is certainly correct, Roy.
23:38But when Molina wrestles with Shane, Shane wrestles him back.
23:41He doesn't turn and look to the referee for help, as some fighters would.
23:44No, he doesn't want help.
23:45He knows he's a man, and he's out there to protect himself.
23:47He's not worried about the referee getting John John off of him.
23:55We saw the flicking left jab of Mosley.
23:58He's very quick with that punch, too.
23:59Haven't seen it a lot so far in the fight.
24:01Punch him there, punch him there.
24:03Mosley's father, Jack, asking for more body punching
24:05and telling him to get close enough to throw more right hands.
24:10And there's an uppercut, well thrown.
24:12Punch him there, y'all, punch him there.
24:13And his father knows that if he continues to weaken John John
24:16by beating him to the body, he'll soon be able to knock him out with a head shot.
24:20But John John has also been beating Shane's body.
24:29Work out of here, work out of here, work out of here.
24:31Work out, work out, work out, work out.
24:41Touch him, break, step back.
24:51Break.
24:52Work out.
24:54Work out, work out, work out.
24:59Left hook by Mosley, hurling Molina into the ropes.
25:11Professional work through the first few rounds.
25:16Larry, let's put Shane Mosley in context with the rest of the lightweight division.
25:22There are two other belt holders.
25:25Nazarov, the Russian who is very, very highly regarded, and Stevie Johnson of Denver,
25:33who will appear underneath the Oscar de la Haya fight the next month.
25:39So we'll get a first chance to look at Stevie Johnson live on June the 13th.
25:45And you can see that the CompuBox punch stat numbers from round to round
25:51are growing ever more lopsided now in Mosley's favor.
25:55We'll get suckers up!
25:57John-John, back in the cone.
26:01Back in the cone, come on.
26:03Hey, hey, hey!
26:05At the end of that last round, you saw some classic John-John Molina.
26:13He waits for the referee to break him.
26:15Before the guy can get set, he attacks right away, keeps his opponent behind him.
26:19Here we go, here we go, here we go, here we go!
26:22Harold, how about these first four rounds?
26:24Jim, I got it.
26:24Three rounds to one, 39-37.
26:27Sugar Shane Mosley.
26:28I did give the second round to John-John Molina,
26:30but basically, Shane Mosley's winning this because he's the hardest, sharper puncher.
26:34You know, it's a rough fight, a lot of headbutts, real headbutts in rounds,
26:37one and three, and a lot of low blows for John-John Molina.
26:41I have the same score, funny enough, Harold.
26:44Right, step up.
26:46Damn it!
26:46Larry, you don't have any even rounds this time?
26:52I can't believe it.
26:56When they're even, I'll call them even.
27:01Roy Jones with another body shot, this time delivered to Larry Merchant.
27:07But unlike Virgil Hill, Merchant isn't down.
27:11Saw a good quick left hook by Mosley,
27:13and now Molina leaps forward and lands a left hook himself.
27:18But landed punches are fewer and farther between now for John-John Molina.
27:24And you saw the CompuBox numbers that showed he landed only six in the last round.
27:28Here he lands a leaping right hand,
27:29and gets in a couple of thrusts of the body
27:31before Ed Johnson breaks him apart.
27:36And roused to action,
27:38Mosley leaps up to try to throw an overhand right.
27:42Melina grabs him instead.
27:47A quick body shot by Shane Mosley.
27:49Punch out, punch out, punch out.
27:50Punch out, punch out, punch out.
27:55Both fighters are working through the body very good in these early rounds.
28:09All right, right hand to the back of Mosley's,
28:11or Molina's head, I should say, by Shane Mosley.
28:15Right above the ear.
28:16A couple of more right-hand shots.
28:27Mosley landing not only more frequently,
28:29but more sharply as the seconds tick away.
28:39He's going to poke here, Jim.
28:40He won't believe it out of here.
28:42And his father would say,
28:44don't forget the body punches.
28:45And don't get too impatient.
28:48Yeah, because he can wear himself out like this.
28:50Jon Jon's hit him to the body every chance Jon Jon gets.
28:52He's throwing the big punches.
28:53They work you twice as hard as throwing the regular punches.
28:56Molina took a terrific right hand near the end of that round,
29:10but he also showed against Oscar De La Hoya after that early knockdown that he can take a big punch.
29:16But I need you to go to that body no more.
29:19He can't take those body shots.
29:20He's holding him to the back.
29:21Yeah, yeah.
29:22But, okay, every time you hit him,
29:24and you move out of the way, okay,
29:25don't stay right there in front of him.
29:26Hit him with a good shot.
29:27If you're not,
29:28but you got to throw two, three punches, Shane.
29:30You got to like bang, bang, bang, okay?
29:32You the champ.
29:33You the power boxer.
29:34He can't take it, Shane.
29:35He's 33 years old.
29:37Right.
29:37Okay?
29:38And if you keep hitting him in the body,
29:39it's going to show up.
29:40Now, you can take probably those head shots.
29:41You have to move back.
29:45You have to move your lower body.
29:48He's tired.
29:49He's very tired.
29:49He's a lot more tired than you are.
29:51Use that straight right hand.
29:55Throw it.
29:55Just throw it.
29:58There's that good right hand.
30:00That one landed behind the ear.
30:03Later on, he landed right on the jaw.
30:06Molina stood up to it.
30:08Round six begins.
30:13Molina with a couple of red welts
30:15on that shaven skull of his.
30:18Otherwise unmarked.
30:21And Shane Mosley shows no ill effects
30:24from the first five rounds of action
30:25with John John.
30:28This is not as ugly a fight
30:31as Molina felt he had to make
30:34against the younger De La Hoya
30:37when he fought him.
30:39But he's still a very hard guy to fight.
30:43Well, and maybe it's not quite as ugly a fight
30:48because as Roy pointed out,
30:50even before the bout began,
30:51Mosley would give back whatever he got.
30:54Yeah, he's not looking for the referee
30:55to help him out
30:55or to get him out of his ugly fight.
30:57He's doing it himself.
30:58He's taking care of the things
30:59like he's supposed to.
31:00He's the champion.
31:01He's supposed to take care of himself out there.
31:03Which may say to Molina,
31:04I'm not going to get to this guy
31:05with the rough stuff
31:06the way I got to Oscar a few years ago.
31:09Yeah, he definitely says that.
31:10But I can tell you one thing, Jim.
31:11Molina is still in this fight
31:13with a big weight.
31:15Oh, headbutt again.
31:16Let's go!
31:19Well, Molina will never fully go away
31:21until he's counted out
31:23or they read the scorecards at the end.
31:26He's a gamer.
31:27Another thunderous right hand
31:32over the top by Shane Mosley.
31:40And another right cross landed flush.
31:44Chopping style that time.
31:53Mosley a little bit more frequent
31:54with the left jab now, Roy,
31:56and I like that.
31:57And that disrupts Molina's come.
31:59Molina likes to wait
32:00and come when you're not ready,
32:01but that jab will make him stay out there
32:02for a little bit longer.
32:05Is it good?
32:06We got break stuff.
32:07Mosley didn't work in the early rounds
32:08to establish his jab,
32:10but numerically he lands it
32:11more than half the time.
32:13And it's making the right cross
32:14easier and easier to land.
32:19That's a body shot by Shane Mosley.
32:21Big round for Mosley so far
32:24in number six.
32:25And now he's establishing
32:26his dumbness in the fight.
32:40Mosley switching southpaw
32:41for a few seconds
32:43and then turns back
32:44with his regular stance.
32:45Jab, jab.
32:55Straight right hand
32:56as Molina comes in.
32:58Molina reaching
32:59and trying to find
33:00a way to punch
33:01at Mosley.
33:02Mosley hitting him
33:03as he arrives.
33:03Tell me what's going on.
33:19Tell me what's going on.
33:24We have to fight
33:25fast and strong
33:27with this guy.
33:28You got to throw that,
33:30put that right hand up.
33:31You're going to have to run.
33:36You're going to have to run
33:37and fight hard.
33:43The right hand
33:45from Mosley
33:46in different parts
33:47of this round.
33:48It's the weapon
33:49that Molina
33:52can't seem
33:53to get out of the way of.
33:56Let's go.
33:57Now you see
34:00also coming behind
34:01that jab a lot.
34:02Yep.
34:03I like that last right hand.
34:05Vicious.
34:06Give him a break.
34:12Give him a break.
34:26Right.
34:26Come on, Sidney.
34:31Come on, Sidney.
34:32Come on, Sidney.
34:32Come on, Sidney.
34:33Come on, Sidney.
34:34Come on, Sidney.
34:35Come on guys, let's punch him here, come on.
35:05Molina still with plenty of energy, trying to get at Mosley's body, occasionally pot-shotting to the head, making it clear to Shane that his effort level doesn't go down, Mosley landing another one of those withering right-hand shots as Molina came in at it.
35:35This is valuable learning for Shane Mosley right here Jim, fighting inside brawling with a real natural ball brawler. You can't get any better experience than he's getting right now.
36:05Out-box the bouchers, out-punch the punchers, out-brawl the brawlers. What else is there? Good punch by Molina. Still coming.
36:23The reason he's landing these shots now is because Shane doesn't have much head movement. He's brawling with him so he's not moving his head as much as he normally does.
36:35I think he makes believe that he has softened Molina up when he's looking to land a big shot and so he's stopped moving his head a little bit. You're right, Roy.
36:47There's another little right hand.
36:49In training just for this fight, guys, Shane Mosley sparred in the gym in Los Angeles with Gennaro Hernandez, 130-pound champion.
36:56Molina doesn't like the knockdown call. He's curious about it.
37:11Referee Ed Johnson had no hesitation in calling it a knockdown.
37:14It didn't look like a clean knockdown. Partly Molina was off balance. Partly it may have been some fatigue. It was a left hand, however, that started him down.
37:29If the push touches you and you go down, that's a knockdown.
37:33Well, let's take another look.
37:35Very end of the round.
37:39Oh, that's a knockdown.
37:41Yeah, that's a knockdown.
37:42Clean him up.
37:43And it looked like a jab, Roy, while he was coming in to try to do some damage.
37:48A jab puts him down.
37:50Yep.
37:54And that substantiates your point, Roy, about when the guy is coming in at you at the moment when you hit him, it doubles the impact.
38:01Doubles the impact every time.
38:02Believe it or not, John John Molina has a job between fights as a phone repairman and installer.
38:12But right now, it seems to me that he may have to call 4-1-1 to get information on how to fight this youngster, or 9-1-1 to get some help.
38:25I think the help would be better.
38:27Yeah, because Mosley is trying to dilate for long distance against him.
38:30And here it comes.
38:33Molina coming out with a fury.
38:35Upset at the knockdown ruling at the end of the last round.
38:41And Molina landing with passion.
38:44This is what you'd like to see in these game fighters.
38:49You'd like to see a guy with some courage, with some heart.
38:52He has dignity.
38:53He has pride.
38:54Well, he's a champ.
38:55He's got a champion's mentality as a fighter.
38:58Three-time world titlist.
38:59Won 24 of his last 25 fights.
39:01Not used to taking no for an answer.
39:03Not terribly impressed by Shane Mosley's reputation.
39:06I was about to tell you before the knockdown in the last round, Mosley sparred with Gennaro Hernandez, Sammy Quintes, David Kamau, Obakar, all of them named fighters.
39:23Carr's a welterweight.
39:24But the guy he said most reminded him of John John Molina is a fighter named Hector Lopez, who uses a lot of the same tricks and has a lot of the same resilience.
39:33And look at him trade shots against the ropes.
39:38Now, that's boxing at the door.
39:40Yep.
39:41It's becoming a bad bout.
39:44Oh.
39:45Do we think the old guy was on Viagra?
39:47I don't know, but he just got hurt with a left body shot.
39:50Oh, there's another left body shot.
39:58I just hope he goes down soon so that I can say Viagra falls.
40:09Yeah, he's hurting pretty bad now.
40:11It's hard for him to protect himself.
40:13I think he's coming forward to the end.
40:15A left and a right.
40:16Another right.
40:17Oh, solid shots by Mosley.
40:19Ripley A. Johnson looking carefully.
40:22Those body shots are doing terrible damage to Molina.
40:27The Russian stop is fighting.
40:28See the man can't protect himself.
40:30Please, Rob.
40:31Come on.
40:31Come on, protect him.
40:32Good stuff.
40:33It's finally.
40:35And that was a fascinating round because Molina came out firing as if to say,
40:41I'm going to show you who the real man is here.
40:43And Mosley matched him and doubled him.
40:45Right.
40:45And I think we can say that John John Molina has never in a wonderful career been dominated
40:56by a fighter the way he was tonight.
40:59He's been beaten, but I doubt that he's ever been dominated this way.
41:03Let him throw it out.
41:08We smash the ball out.
41:10We smash the ball out.
41:11In round eight, Shane Mosley landed 33 of the 51 punches he threw,
41:17including 31 of 48 power shots.
41:19It was a display of effective counterpunching aggression against a guy who came out trying to make a statement against him.
41:28Mosley stepped up and said, okay, fire your best because it's coming back harder every time.
41:34That's right.
41:34And the one thing I like about what Mosley did was his father beckoned him to go to the body early.
41:39He told his father that Molina was holding him too much.
41:41He wanted to wait.
41:42He waited to the best time.
41:43He wore him down some.
41:45Then he went inside and brought him, took advantage of Molina's weakening body,
41:49and it made the head punches take a toll.
41:51And Molina just couldn't stand up under the pressure.
41:53He broke him down.
41:54And it showed you that the thought process in Mosley's corner works both ways.
41:57Yes, it does.
41:58Trainer and trainer.
41:59Yes.
41:59The fighter usually knows when it's best to take the chances because he's the one who's actually taking the punches.
42:05The father knew exactly what to tell him, but Shane had to take his time to get that understood.
42:09Well said, Roy.
42:15Promoter Cedric Kushner chatting with Mosley.
42:19And let's take a look at some replays of the brilliant action in that round.
42:23The first day I heard him was a left body shot under his right hand.
42:33That was a good head shot, but all of that was a repercussion.
42:35There's that body shot.
42:37Oh, boom.
42:37There's that first body shot.
42:38That's what started everything.
42:46And at this point, Molina was all but finished.
42:50Wanted to keep fighting, of course, because his desire is unquenchable.
42:55But it was just a matter of time, and you heard Roy Jones asking the referee to step in and stop it
43:00seconds before Ed Johnson did as Roy expected him to do.
43:08Good work by Shane Mosley to the body and to the head in the eighth round as John John Molina, angered by a knockdown at the end of the preceding round, came out aggressive and therefore gave Mosley the opportunity he needed to go ahead and finish.
43:30Now let's go to Michael Buffer for the official second.
43:34Ladies and gentlemen, referee Ed Johnson has to call a halt at the bout.
43:37The official time, two minutes, 27 seconds of round number eight.
43:44The winner by TKO victory is still the undefeated IBF lightweight champion of the world, Sugar Shane Mosley.
43:57And now here to talk to Sugar Shane Mosley is Vinegar Bend Larry Merchant.
44:05Thank you, Jim, and congratulations again, Sugar.
44:10I think you've earned that title, Sugar.
44:13Oh, yeah.
44:13This guy was not easy.
44:16Why not?
44:17What did it take to finally break him down?
44:19Well, I think the body shots finally broke him down.
44:22You know, he is a very tough fighter.
44:24He throws, you know, you can't just watch him fight.
44:26You have to be in there with him.
44:27He throws those funny punches, and he can catch you from different angles.
44:30So you have to really be cautious when you're fighting him.
44:33But I think the body shots broke him down.
44:35And I noticed before he was available for a lot of right hands.
44:38But he also has the mentality of a champion.
44:40I mean, he tried to make a fight of it right to the end.
44:44Oh, yeah.
44:44He wanted to prove that he was still the champion.
44:47But I had to let him know that there's a new champion in town.
44:50And for all those other lightweights, I think they can take on this.
44:52Stevie Johnson and Ozabek Noserov.
44:55I'm right here.
44:56Where did he stay?
44:57You're getting unusually bold.
45:00We're doing all the lightweights out there.
45:01Well, you know, I'm bored.
45:03I mean, I like Stevie Johnson.
45:04You know, we grew up with our amateur career together.
45:07I don't know Ozabek Noserov.
45:09But, you know, I just think that the fans would like to see good fights like this.
45:13All right.
45:13Your dad, in fact, called it early in the fight.
45:16Says you'll get him an eight if you use your left hand a little bit and if you go to the body.
45:21Were you a little too anxious early on?
45:23Well, yeah.
45:24You know, I started hitting him with, you know, the jabs and stuff.
45:26And I figured I hit him.
45:27I caught him early with the right hand.
45:28So I said, yeah, that right hand, that's my bread and butter shot.
45:30So I'm going to catch him again with that right hand.
45:32My father said, well, calm down.
45:33Hit him in the body first.
45:34And then go back to the right hand.
45:35But, you know, I think I just got two agents and I started throwing one punch at a time instead of throwing the combinations.
45:40And I probably would have gotten him out early if I would do more combinations.
45:44Are guys like me raising the expectations for you too high sugar to live up to?
45:51Well, Larry, I don't think so.
45:52You know, I have to live up to that expectation.
45:53I have to be, you know, I want to be great.
45:55And I want to be, you know, one of the greats, you know, like the Roy Jones, Oscar Delahoyers, and the Prince Nassim.
46:01I want to be, you know, among those guys.
46:03And I think right now that I am among those guys, Roy, Oscar, and the Prince.
46:08And there's probably some others too out there.
46:11I'm not, Evander Holyfield, you know, they have the Tysons and, you know, everybody like that.
46:15So, you know, I just want.
46:17So you like the expectations and it somehow inspires you?
46:21That motivates me to do the best that I possibly can do.
46:23And that's the way to be.
46:25Thank you again, Shane.
46:26Thank you, Larry.
46:27I appreciate it.
46:28Okay.
46:28And that ballpark.
46:29You know, a lot of fighters down through the years have taken on the appellation of Sugar in homage to the great Sugar Ray Robinson.
46:39But there's only been two that I've seen who have really earned those appellations, Sugar Ray Leonard and this young man we just saw, Sugar Shane Mosley.
46:50Jim?
46:51All right, Larry, final punch stat numbers.
46:54And you'll see the dominance of Mosley there as he landed 111 more punches and threw 38 more, 55% connect percentage.
47:03That's pretty withering for the opponent.
47:05He was leading on all three scorecards at the time when the fight was stopped.
47:10One judge gave the first two rounds to Molina.
47:12But other than that, it was a whitewash for Mosley who won every other round on all three judges' cards.
47:19And Stevie Johnston, one of the other welterweight champions whose name was mentioned there, you'll see him on the undercard of the Oscar De La Hoya-Patrick Charpentier fight June 13 in El Paso right here on HBO.
47:31We'll have a final word on what happened here in the ring in just a moment.
47:34Now let's look ahead to some upcoming HBO programs.
47:37Let's look ahead to some upcoming HBO programs.
47:41Next Saturday on HBO.
47:43Doubleheader spotlighting two of the division's brightest prospects.
47:48Michael Grant will take on Obed Sullivan.
47:51Chris Bird will meet Eliezer Castillo.
47:54And in June, tune up for the HBO return of Oscar De La Hoya.
47:57He's up against Frenchman Patrick Charpentier in a fight once postponed because of an injury to Oscar's wrist.
48:03The wrist is okay, so be there June 13.
48:07Nine days later, tune in for HBO's coverage of the premier event in tennis, Wimbledon.
48:12This year, we may find out if Venus and or Serena Williams can win on grass and whether Pete Sampras, back at number one in the world, can repeat on his favorite surface.
48:22The fortnight begins June 22.
48:26Earlier here this evening at the Trump Taj Mahal, you saw 154-pound phenom, former American Olympic gold medalist David Reed, win the ninth bout of his professional career to move to 9-0.
48:37An excellent second-round knockout of Nick Rupa, fashioned with a brilliant right hand over the top.
48:44And then Shane Mosley retained his version of the lightweight title with an eighth-round TKO of John John Molina.
48:51Molina showed all of his vaunted toughness and professionalism, but it wasn't enough against the massive arsenal of Mosley skills.
48:59Coming up immediately following our show, stay tuned for Arliss, followed by the movie.
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