ESPN2 FNF: Erislandy Lara vs. Carlos Molina RBR

It's scheduled for 10; the O/U was probably 7.5

 

Round 2

Lara is backhanding with his jab, sort of smacking with it. Molina is leaning forward and down, putting his weight into body jabs. Lara starts to throw a straighter right jab from higher up. Molina is bouncing back on his toes whenever Lara looks to get going. Lara digs a left to the body. Molina is pecking away with left jabs, darting in and out. Good double left hook to the body by Molina. Lara comes forward behind a shell. Lara feints with a right jab and then a left uppercut and gets Molina to flinch and move straight backward from both. Molina is SO nervous, but doing well. Lead right hand to the body by Molina, just grazes. They wrestle and Molina tries to throw him across the ring. Left hook to the body by Molina.

19-19

 

Molina is winning me over.

It's a combination of the fact that he clearly came to win and not lay down, and is actually confounding Lara a bit...and the fact that he's so ****ing nervous, like a little kid. You just want to see him do well.

 

Round 3

Ugly action in the opening minute. Molina jabs and circles left. Lara is mostly falling into clinches, trying to land his left uppercut and bringing his left foot forward with it (making the clinches inevitable). Molina is catching him with his left arm around Lara's back and greeting him with his own right uppercuts to the chest during most of these clinches. They exchange jabs from outside. NICE uppercut/hook combo by Molina, and several more power punches - mostly blocked but thudding loudly and probably impressing the judges. Lara tries a left uppercut and it looks really nice technically but slices the air as Molina darts back out of the way. Molina lunges with a jab and catches Lara into a clinch as Lara tries to double-punch him in the body (a'la Augustus or Pacquiao).

29-28 CM