By Eric Thomas: IBF junior middleweight champion Ishe Smith (25-5, 11 KO’s) vs. Carlos Molina is in the works for late July according to Dan Rafael. There still isn’t a specified date or venue for the fight but it should be announced soon.
Smith recently defeated IBF champion Cornelius Bundrage by a 12 round decision to capture his IBF title last February in a hard fought fight.
Molina, 29, has a two-fight winning streak going since being beaten by James Kirkland in a highly controversial fight last year where the referee stopped the fight that Molina was head in after his corner person stepped inside the ring after the round had ended following a knockdown of Molina by Kirkland.
Molina had gotten back to his feet and beaten the count, yet the referee disqualified him because his corner had stepped inside the ring. The referee was still looking Molina over to see if he was okay at the time his corner stepped inside the ring. Molina has since beaten Damian Frias and Cory Spinks.
Molina fought to a 12 round draw last year against unbeaten Erislandy Lara in a fight that some boxing fans felt that Molina should have won. Molina also beat Kermit Cintron last year. Earlier in his career, Molina had a controversial six round draw against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in 2005 in a fight that Molina arguably should have won.
The two fighters met in the following year with Chavez Jr. winning a 6 round decision in a fight that looked identical to the first. I had Molina winning both of those fights.
Smith fought well in beating Bundrage recently. Smith was able to stay on the outside and use his speed and a hard jab to defeat the harder hitting Bundrage. Late in the fight, Smith was even able to stun Bundrage with some hard shots.
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