It was a pretty poor effort but then doing much better than that is probably easier said than done if you are not a particularly good heavyweight yourself.
He could of put on a better effort for sure but I can only assume he was trying to lure Joshua in which clearly was a horrible tactic against such a tall opponent with such a reach advantage. It was very easy for Joshua to just pick him off from the outside and wait for an opening. People can't expect the same reckless Joshua we saw against Whyte. He has learned from that fight and has shown a far more measured style since that fight.
White made Joshua fight a bit. Molina was worse than a sparing partner. Haye was right. Get him out and give me someone else.
Not really Joshua came out and took the centre of the ring from the first bell and was throwing repeated right hands 30 seconds into the first round. He didn't try and control range at all he was in seek and destroy mode, he had Whyte backing up 40 seconds into the fight and after landing repeated right hands was standing right in front of Whyte he wasn't being backed up and forced to fight a more aggressive fight he chose to be more aggressive. He could of done the same last night and with Breazeale but he stayed on the outside in these fights. Kept his opponent in arms length and picked them off instead of forcing the fight and looking to land bomb after bomb. But agree that this was worse than a sparring partner. If Molina had been paid to be a sparring partner for Joshua he would have been sent home at the end of the day for not being good enough. This was a total mismatch as expected.
Yeah he learnt from round four on the job against Whyte that he's more effective when he boxes behind his jab and the knockout will still come. I think Molina was trying in his head to take AJ into later rounds and he was clinging on to what he did against Wilder but styles makes fights and there was no way Molina could survive without having any offence of his own?
Hadn't thought of Molina trying to ride out the early rounds and take the fight late, makes sense if you believe Joshua may have stamina issues as some suspect. Yeah Molina's tactics were all wrong. Wilder is the kind of fighter who will give you openings if you draw him in and let him get off first, as he falls in after he throws and his hands are often so low. Joshua no longer seems to give his opponents those kind of openings. He throws a shot and quickly draws back into a defensive position, trying to draw him in will just see you get beat on the outside, Molina needed to force the fight and close the range, he's far too easy to hit and nowhere near durable enough to try and rope a dope anyone.
