Anthony Joshua was set up to defend his International Boxing Federation (IBF) title against Eric Molina, after Wladimir Klitschko refused to face the Briton, who he thought wasn’t good enough for a fight.
Joshua had only one job; prove the Russian wrong and pave the way for a heavyweight unification title bout.
Prior to the fight, Molina had only been defeated three times in his 28th pro-career fights, and was looking to make a big move to the big stage with a dominant win against Joshua.
Joshua vs Molina
Joshua took his time in the first round of the fight, weighing Molina with light punches and jabs here and there.
Molina on the other hand, kept his game good and stood his ground as the briton tested him at every end.
Joshua’s long arm and power punches kept finding Molina at critical times, just enough to rattle the American a little bit.
However, Molina remained unmoved and tried to get the heavyweight champion to bulge as the fight progressed.
At the end of the second round, Joshua was done toying with the American, and it was time to put an end to their entertaining dance in the ring.
One of Joshua’s right jabs caught Molina in his corner, sending the already unnerved American to the canvas.
Molina barely beat the count.
However, the next set of events invited an obvious question to Molina — if getting up was worth it.
As soon as the bout resumed, Joshua landed a few more deathly combos to Molina, sending the American into a severe disarray as referee Steve Gray called the fight in favor of the heavyweight champ.
Joshua eventually faced Klitschko and defeated the Russian to claim the vacant WBA (Super) and IBO heavyweight titles.
Featured image source: Bleacher Report