Austin Stops Golota, McCline Decisions Mollo

Image: Austin Stops Golota, McCline Decisions MolloBy Jason Kim: In a terribly boring fight, former three-time title challenger Jameel McCline (39-9-3, 23 KOs) defeated undersized Mike Mollo (19-3, 12 KOs) by a 12-round unanimous decision in the World Boxing Council (WBC) title eliminator on Friday night at the Sichuan Gymnasium, in Chengdu, China. The final judges’ scores were 116-112, 116-111 and 114-113. McCline, now 38, has previously failed three times in title challenges against Wladimir Klitschko, Nikolay Valuev and Samuel Peter. However, with his win over Mollo, McCline is set for future title shot against Vitali Klitschko, if the Ukrainian survives his likely next fight against Juan Carlos Gomez.

McCline and Mollo did little actual fighting in the early going, choosing to wrestle and throw weak shots on the inside. McCline hardly threw any punches in rounds one through five. During the first two rounds, McCline and Mollo fought cautiously, posing a lot and appearing afraid to let their hands go.

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Golota Decisions Molla

golota43646343.jpgPolish heavyweight Andrew Golota (41-6-1, 33 KOs) continued with his successful comeback effort when he defeated prospect Mike Molla (19-2, 12 KOs) by a 12-round unanimous decision to win the World Boxing Association Fedelatin heavyweight title on Saturday night to win the Madison Square Garden, in New York City, New York. Golota, now 40 years-old, had his left eye completely swollen shut by the 7th round, but it didn’t matter much, as he had more than enough skills to pound out the 12-round decision over the completely spent 27 year-old Molla. The final judges’ scores were 116-110, 116-112 and 118-109, all for Golota.

In the first round, Molla jumped all over Golota, hitting him with a massive flurry of shuts, mostly to the body. However, when Golota remained standing, Molla had no idea what do do next, and spent most of the remaining rounds constantly clinching Golota and doing little else.

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Golota-Mollo: Will Andrew Retire If He Loses?

40 year-old heavyweight contender Andrew Golota (40-6-1, 33 KOs) will be fighting on the undercard of Roy Jones Jr. vs. Felix Trinidad bout this Saturday night against heavyweight prospect Mike Molla (19-1, 12 KOs) at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Golota, ranked #10 in the World Boxing Council, is going up against one of the hardest punchers in the heavyweight division in Molla. Normally, this would be a bout that an experienced heavyweight like Golota could win fairly easy, since Molla has been in with only one top fighter in his career, DaVarryl Williamson, and was blown out in the 4th round in May 2006.

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Andrew Golota Profile

Heavyweight Contender Born on Jan. 5, 1968, in Warsaw, Poland, now living in Chicago, Illinois. Height 6’ 4” – Weight: Heavyweight. Record: 40-6-1, 33 KOs.

Andrew Golota began boxing at age 13 and captured an unprecedented seven Polish national amateur championships. He won a bronze medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Golota relocated to Chicago and turned pro in 1992, winning his first 27 starts—24 by knockout.

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Golota Molla: Andrew Hopes To Defeat A Prospect

golota46464.jpgHeavyweight contender Andrew Golota (40-6-1, 33 KOs) hopes to keep alive in the heavyweight division when he takes on hard-punching Mike Molla (19-1, 12 KOs) on January 19th at Madison Square Garden in New York. Both fighters will be getting a tremendous amount of visibility, since the fight will be on the undercard of the older timers bout between Roy Jones Jr. vs. Felix Trinidad, which will likely stink up the joint in comparison to the fireworks that will likely happen between Molla and Golota. That’s not to say that either Golota or Molla are top heavyweights, because neither of them are, although Molla is technically a prospect to some.

This is pretty much a toss up bout, as Golota, who will be 40 years-old on January 5th, has lost much of his handspeed in recent years and looks like only a shell of his former self. He still has power, true, but his speed is going to be big problem for him against a young fighter like the 27 year-old Molla. Perhaps more of a problem for Golota, however, is his problems with big punchers, as he’s been stopped during his career by the few big punchers – Lennox Lewis, Lamon Brewster, and Mike Tyson – that he’s faced. Although in fairness to Golota, he actually quit against Tyson, but if the fight had gone on a little longer, he probably would have been legitimately stopped by Tyson due to the injury to Golota’s cheekbone. In facing Molla, Golota will be dealing with another fighter about the same size as Tyson, around 6-feet tall, and with excellent power, which some say is comparable to Tyson.

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Golota vs. Mollo on January 19th

Responding to a challenge from once-beaten heavyweight prospect Mike Mollo (19-1, 12 KOs), the often-troubled Andrew Golota (40-6-1, 33 KOs) has agreed to face him on January 19ths, at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Their fight will take place on the undercard of Roy Jones Jr. vs. Felix Trinidad, and perhaps may eclipse that bout in excitement. Mollo, 27, a fighter often compared to Mike Tyson, recently steopped Art Binkowski in the 2nd round on October 13th. Mollo hits very hard, and tends to overwhelm his opponents in the first couple of rounds, bombing them out with hooks and uppercuts. His one lone blemish is a 4th round TKO to the heard-punching DaVarryl Williamson, in May 2006.

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Sosa Stops Trejo

sosa332222222.jpgWBA light flyweight champion Edgar Sosa (29-5, 15 KOs) stopped his over-matched challenger Lorenzo Trejo (30-16, 17 KOs) in the 9th round on Sunday night at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Trejo, 30, moving up from the minumweight class to challenge Sosa for the title, was no match for him in overall speed or talent and was out-boxed every step of the way by the taller, quicker and more talented Sosa. In the 9th round, Trejo both eyes badly swollen, was hurt by a brutal left hook to his midsection. Sosa then followed up with flurry that led to the referee stepping in and putting a stop to the bout at 2:02 of the round.

Strange as it may seem, Trejo is considered one of the top fighters in the minumweight division. However, against the light flyweight champion Sosa, Trejo was no match from the very start. Sosa peppered him with fast jabs in the first few rounds of the fight, keeping him on the outside where he was mostly harmless as a fly. Trejo, a fighter that likes to fight on the inside, kept trying to get in close so that he could land his hooks to the body and head, but Sosa stayed on the move, constantly pumping out his jab, and frustrating Trejo.

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Golota vs. McBride

golota23522242.jpgOn October 6th, Andrew Golota (39-6-1, 32) returns to action against one-time Mike Tyson conqueror Keven McBride (34-5-1, 29 KOs) at Madison’s Square Garden, in New York. Golota, 39, is making his 2nd bout since starting his boxing comeback against Jeremy Bates in June 2007, following a two-year absence away from the ring. Golota looked considerably slower in his last bout than he did in his prime 10 years ago.

In fact, he seemed only a shadow of his former self. However, Bates (21-14, 9 KOs), didn’t have nearly enough skills to expose Golota and perhaps send him packing. Not much will change in that respect, however, against the 6’6″ Kevin McBride, who has size and little else going for him. In his last bout, McBride bit off a little more than he can chew against the hard-punching Mike Molla, who took him out in the 2nd round on October 7, 2006.

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