Undefeated super bantamweight champion Steve Molitor (26-0, 10 KOs) won an impressive, albeit bloody, 12-round unanimous decision over the hard-hitting Ricardo Castillo (33-5, 22 KOs) on Saturday night at the Casino Rama, Rama, in Ontario, Canada. Molitor, 27, had problems with the power of Castillo, the younger brother of famous fighter Jose Luis Castillo. However, by the second half of the fight, Molitor adapted his style and was able to avoid many of Castillo’s big right hand shots and easily out-box him in the remaining rounds. The judges’ scores were 118-109, 118-109 and 118-109, giving Molitor the victory.
Molitor was cut in the fourth round over his left eye, from a looking right hand thrown by Castillo. The cut would remain a problem for the duration of the fight, often leaking blood into Molitor’s left eye and making it hard for him to see. Castillo, 28, applied a tremendous amount of pressure on Molitor in the early going, trying to get in close so that he could land his sharp hooks. However, Molitor would quickly reach out and spin Castillo around, turning him to the ropes where he’d be trapped. The southpaw Molitor would then land straight left hands and right hooks, catching Castillo as he would come forward. Molitor showed beautiful boxing ability, using the ring to keep a cushion between him and Castillo. Again and again, Molitor would land combinations and stopping Castillo in his tracks.
Though Molitor showed little in the way of power, his ability to keep from getting hit, combined with his high volume offense, created huge problems for Castillo throughout the fight. However, to his credit, Castillo didn’t get discouraged and continued to press Molitor and take the fight to him. In rounds 11 and 12, Castillo appeared to slow down with his work rate, at which time Molitor began to attack him for a change, trying to get corner him against the ropes. In both of the last two rounds, Castillo landed punches at a much limited rate, as Molitor was completely dominating him at this point in the fight.
In the end, Castillo didn’t have the power or the speed to make the fight competitive. I’d like to see Molitor up against the other super bantamweight champions, Israel Vazquez, Celestino Caballero, and Daniel Ponce De Leon. I think Vazquez and Ponce De Leon might give Molitor problems, but if they couldn’t connect, as Castillo couldn’t, then they’d be in for a huge boxing lesson.