This coming June 13 at the Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Alabama WBC World Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (33-0) will make the first defense of his belt as he faces Eric Molina (23-2). For Wilder, it is a chance to defend his newly won world title in his home state, and he is expected to come in a major favorite for this one when the line hits the sport books.
Molina has been a professional for eight years and he is on a five-fight winning streak since his February of 2012 loss to Chris Arreola, where he was dropped and stopped in the opening round of the bout. His only other loss came in the first bout of his career, but facing a knockout artist like Wilder, it is noteworthy that he was knocked out in the first round in that bout as well. Molina fought on the undercard of the Deontay Wilder versus Bermane Stiverne bout in January, defeating Brazil’s Raphael Zumbrano Love by TKO in the last round of their eight-round bout. There was not much in that fight that would make an observer think that Molina deserves a world title shot, and there is little on his resume that indicate he deserves a shot.
Wilder was waiting to see how the April bout between Wladimir Klitschko and Bryant Jennings went, as a match with the winner was very appealing to Wilder. If somehow, Jennings had been able to break through and win against Klitschko, a match between Wilder and Jennings could have been made for big money as the first two American Heavyweight champions to meet in years. Unfortunately for Wilder, Klitschko won and he will likely choose a matchup with Tyson Fury for later this year, shelving a showdown with Jennings until at least early 2015.
So Jennings has taken a safe fight against Molina in an attempt to stay busy and avoid a long layoff. Now that he has earned a world championship, it is unlikely Wilder is gonig to gamble and face a dangerous opponent until he is able to land some big money fights. He will be a huge favorite going into this fight with Molina.
