By AJ Betancourt: I submitted an article last week talking about the December 14th fight between WBA welterweight champion Adrien Broner and Marcos Maidana card and how Victor Ortiz was getting an immediate title shot on the undercard with newly crowned IBF junior middleweight champ Carlos Molina. I thought it was fishy that Ortiz was getting a title shot after a long layoff.
No disrespect to Ortiz but I think we can all agree a fighter with 2 consecutive losses, both by knockout, does not deserve a title shot, especially from being laid back for awhile from a 18 months of inactivity. Ortiz was originally supposed to be fighting this September, but instead he chose to be starred in the New “Expendables 3” movie. Well, the IBF was on the same page as me and others and refused to sanction the bout, referring to Ortiz inactivity and losses. If it were the WBA, WBC or the WBO, they likely would have sanctioned the bout without a problem. But the IBF actually follows its rules and doesn’t hand out Super, Regular, and Interim titles left and right. So instead of Carlos Molina possibly beating Ortiz and ruining Golden Boys plans, the IBF crashed their party by ruining their fight plans. Golden Boy is now forced too add a different fight or find another opponent for either Molina or Ortiz.
It’s unknown which fighter will stay on the card and which one will go. I’m assuming Ortiz will stay on the card due to Golden Boy possibly favoring him over Molina and set him to fight to get him on track to another world title. But don’t be surprised if Ortiz beats his next opponent, Golden Boy will immediately try and get him a fight with Molina again in 2014. I think Golden Boy is hoping Ortiz beats Molina and takes his title that way they can set up Ortiz vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez to possibly be on Floyd Mayweather Jr’s undercard on Cinco de Mayo weekend on May 3rd. But I wouldn’t count on Ortiz beating Molina easily because no one looks good fighting Molina due to his awkward style. Molina is a fighter who’s been robbed quite a few times. Examples are against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in their first fight, Erislandy Lara and Mike Alvardo. I also believe Molina was schooling James Kirkland until the disqualification in the 10th. But expect Ortiz and Molina will fight soon, but that’s if Ortiz beats his next opponent.
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