(Photo credit: Tom Casino/Showtime) By John F. McKenna (McJack): Former WBA/IBF light welterweight champion Amir Khan (27-3, 19 KO’s) did what was expected of him in disposing of Californian Carlos Molina (17-1, 7 KO’s) last night at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Khan won virtually every round and bloodied Molina before the match was stopped by his corner after the 10th round.
Last night’s match was Amir’s first under trainer Virgil Hunter and for the most part it was a confidence builder for the native of Bolton, England. Molina was chosen to fight Khan because he was perceived to be a low risk opponent after Amir had lost two consecutive fights.
Molina was tough and game, but he lacked the talent or power to give Khan any serious problems. Amir’s TKO win over Molina reverses the fortunes of his career which had been on life support after two consecutive losses. Khan’s TKO loss to Danny Garcia in July prompted him to fire his trainer Freddie Roach and go with Virgil Hunter who also trains the undefeated Andre Ward.
Last night’s TKO win over Molina was expected by team Khan and is just the first phase of a project to rehabilitate the career of the former WBA/IBF champion. Hunter will analyze what Amir did right, but he will also look at areas where his new charge came up short and needs to improve on.
In the past Khan has had memory lapses complicated by his failure to follow the advice of his corner. He is now in a situation however where if he fails under his new trainer he will have nowhere else to go.
In the past Amir could not restrain himself from being pulled into a slugfest. He paid heavily for that lapse of judgment when he was TKO’d by Garcia. Hunter could be heard barking instructions at ringside to Khan imploring him to pull back when it appeared that he was lapsing into his old habit of open warfare. For the most part Amir stuck to the game plan.
Obviously Khan’s victory over Molina was just one fight and old habits are hard to break, but at 26 years old Amir still has time to turn things around if he is able to reign himself in and avoid the temptation to go macho and turn every fight into a slugfest.
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