BY TIM PARSONS
American heavyweight champion defended his title successfully with a 9 round stoppage of tough Eric Molina in Alabama last Saturday. Molina who had only lost twice in 25 fights, was game for most of the fight and gave Wilder a tough fight before being knocked down twice in the 5th round, then eventually in the 9th round. Wilder, who had only been past the 4th round once when he claimed the title in January, was disciplined in his approach and appeared to be trying to get more rounds under his belt, judging by the more strategic method of his game. Wilder could have loaded up on Molina early in the contest, but realised his durable opponent could take a good shot, so elected to break him down steadily. The American struggled to put him away, and did not look particularly spectacular in dealing with Molina.
Molina who was coming off an 8th round knockout win coming into this fight, was sensationally knocked out in 1 round by Chris Arreola in 2011. Arreola is a big puncher, though we all thought Wilder is just as big a puncher as Arreola if not a bigger puncher than Arreola? So why did Molina last so long with Wilder? Most likely because Wilder did not steam into Molina with explosive shots, so as not to risk losing his title by running into a big shot. Chris Arreola is a risk taker who often takes chances by imposing himself on opponents and letting the hot shots go. He doesn’t mind taking a few hot shots just to land his, where as Wilder was guarding his championship belt very carefully. The recently crowned WBC champion mixed technical skill with powerful hitting, though some gaps in his technical artillery were exploited by his determined opponent.
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Wilder got the knockout win, though he looked less menacing than all those other knockout victories he had on his journey to world championship glory. It is clearly because he is fighting at world class level now that he is taking longer to dispose of them, though Wilder did need the rounds to allow him some practise on the technical side of things. If the fight didn’t stretch out this long, he would not have been able to discover enough about himself up until the knock out win, since he will need it in long fights against the likes of Klitschko, Fury, and Price etc in the future. Wilder after the fight told the press
“What I needed was a tough guy, I needed a guy that had heart, I needed a guy that was going to get dropped but come back up and still fight. I needed that. And Eric Molina, I got that out of him.” Wilder’s comments tie in with what we saw. He had someone tough, and took his time to break him down when he saw that Molina’s resistance level was very high.
Huge 6ft 8 inches Scousser, David Price, who was a guest at the Sky sports studios expressed an interest to fight Wilder in the nearer future, stating he saw nothing in Wilder that worried him. What Price forgets is that he hasn’t faced anyone as tough as Molina, and that he has less punch resistance than Molina does.
Price goes for the European title next month, against unbeaten Erten Kepen, and must concentrate on that fight before even contemplating fighting Wilder. At 6ft 8inches with explosive power himself, a fight against Wilder would be an instant sell out. However, if they met now, Wilder will almost definitely knock out David Price, though Price cannot be ruled out of pulling off the upset and crushing Wilder with one of his big right bombs. Wilder will still be the safer bet for victory in a clash with David Price now. Price lacks the required level of confidence to take the fight to Wilder, who will most likely take centre of the ring from the outset and get straight into attacking mode to prevent Price from implementing any dangerous ideas he has. If Price can win the European title and defend it even once, he may by then have developed in confidence and practical experience to stand a chance against Wilder. For now, Wilder defended his title with an emphatic result, but we will need to see how he gets on with his next defence. All his defences are all at world level now, so it will be interesting to see if he can win the next 2 defences, and do so impressively. The jury Are still out on Wilder to see if he is the man to re-ignite the heavyweight division.
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