Molina blows away Okada!
On Saturday night in California fans saw Hiroki Okada (19-2, 13) [岡田 博喜] have the worst night of his professional career, as he was blown out by former Olympian Javier Molina (21-2, 9), in just over a minute.
Okada, who had won his first 19 pro bouts, won a Japanese and regional title and had been highly ranked by the world title bodies, had looked on the verge of a world title fight just over a year ago. Earlier this year he entered a world title eliminator, losing in 9 rounds to Ray Beltran in a bit of a forgotten classic, and knew that a win today would put him back in the mix. Sadly he has now been removed completely from the mix.
The two men traded very early on and a big shot by Molina dropped Okada hard. Okada would get up, but still be shaken as Molina moved in for the finish, unloading until dropping Okada for a second time. With Okada down the referee waved off the bout, at an official time of 1 minute 5 seconds.
With Molina having not scored a stoppage win in over 4 years this opening round blow out was a surprise, though likely shows just how far Okada is gone from the fighter he once was. Molina is a fantastic talent, but it seemed that if he was going to win, it would have been a clear decision, not a quick blow out.
Okada, who had won his first 19 pro bouts, won a Japanese and regional title and had been highly ranked by the world title bodies, had looked on the verge of a world title fight just over a year ago. Earlier this year he entered a world title eliminator, losing in 9 rounds to Ray Beltran in a bit of a forgotten classic, and knew that a win today would put him back in the mix. Sadly he has now been removed completely from the mix.
The two men traded very early on and a big shot by Molina dropped Okada hard. Okada would get up, but still be shaken as Molina moved in for the finish, unloading until dropping Okada for a second time. With Okada down the referee waved off the bout, at an official time of 1 minute 5 seconds.
With Molina having not scored a stoppage win in over 4 years this opening round blow out was a surprise, though likely shows just how far Okada is gone from the fighter he once was. Molina is a fantastic talent, but it seemed that if he was going to win, it would have been a clear decision, not a quick blow out.