Steve Molitor sets up unification bout with TKO of Ceferino Labarda
Published Saturday August 30th, 2008
RAMA, Ont. - Steve Molitor earned roars of approval from the crowd and a pretty solid A-minus from his new trainer for an efficient 10th-round TKO of the unheralded Ceferino Dario Labarda on Friday night.
With the successful defence of his IBF junior featherweight title behind him now, The Canadian Kid is thinking big after doing his part to set up a title unification bout with WBA champ Celestino Caballero in November.
"I am ready," said Molitor, looking no worse for the wear. "I'm 28 years old, I'm working as hard as I've ever worked, it's either now or never. I'm not going to pass up this great opportunity that comes once in a lifetime. I want to take advantage of it."
The victory by Molitor (28-0, 11 knockouts) - sealed at 2:34 of the 10th round when referee Charlie Fitch had to rescue a broken down Labarda (18-1, seven KOs) - was the first step toward a unification bout Nov. 21, also at Casino Rama.
The next step is for Caballero (29-2, 20 knockouts) to win a Sept. 18 bout with Elvis Mejia of Colombia (27-7-1, seven knockouts) in his native Panama. Promoter Allan Tremblay will be at that fight with a contract to sign.
"The deal is done," said Tremblay.
For the next fight to end as successfully as this one for Molitor and his people, the Sarnia, Ont., native will need to make some more improvements.
Larouche said Molitor gave away too many body shots early to Labarda, who wasn't good enough to do much damage with them.
It took Molitor a couple of rounds to clean that up, as he began taking over in the third, landing one combo that rattled Labarda's neck, then making more and more inroads as his opponent, sapped from the fast start, showed fatigue.
A dominant fifth-round put Labarda on his heels as Molitor landed a series of solid rights that threatened to drop the challenger. It was more of the same in the sixth, seventh and eighth rounds, as Molitor landed more blows.
In the ninth Molitor sent Labarda to the mat before finishing him in the 10th.
"I knew it was just a matter of time," said Molitor. "I was landing a lot of good body shots early in the fight and throughout the fight, so I knew once I hurt him in the ninth it was just a matter of time."
Molitor agreed with Larouche that needs to be careful about giving away any blows early.
"It's a work in progress," he said, "but it's definitely one of my better fights."
The crowd at the mostly full 5,200-capacity entertainment centre at Rama would agree. Largely lethargic during the undercard, they came to life when Molitor came out to Metallica's "Wherever I May Roam," chanting his name and urging him on.
The fight was Molitor's fifth title defence in 14 months and his first since winning an April 5 unanimous decision over Mexico's Fernando Beltran Jr.
Much has happened since, as Molitor briefly parted ways with promoter Tremblay's Orion Sports Management to seek a fight down south before returning to the fold, and then proceeded to dump longtime trainer Chris Johnson in favour of the renowned Larouche.
Molitor spent the past month and a half training with Larouche in Montreal, passing up luxury digs to live in what he described as a "crackhouse" in order "to go back to where I came from, get that hunger back."
Larouche didn't alter Molitor's style much but tried to get him boxing "looser," suggesting that he carried too much tension while in the ring. Friday's bout was the first real test of the adjustment and he came through well.
"I would probably give Steve an 80 per cent," said Larouche. "He had some pressure coming into this fight because he changed trainers and when you change trainers you want to show people you made the right decision."
On the Rumble at Rama V undercard, Olivier Lontchi of Montreal retained his NABA super bantamweight title with a draw against Mexico's Eduardo Garcia in a slow bout.
Lontchi has been seeking a shot at Molitor but did little to impress the judges or the crowd, which booed both boxers several times. He admitted wanting to put on a show to impress Molitor's people affected him.
"Yeah, even if I didn't want to," said Lontchi. "I know I had to pass Garcia before I could think about Molitor, but I've been waiting for this fight for a long time."
Benoit Gaudet (18-1, seven knockouts), of Drummondville, Que., defended his NABA Super Featherweight title with an unanimous 10-round decision over Mexico's Alejandro Barrera (18-2, 12 knockouts).
Toronto's Raymond (Mount Kilimanjaro) Olubowale, the reigning Canadian heavyweight champion, improved to 7-2-1 (four knockouts) after an unanimous six-round decision over American Demetrice King (14-17, 12 knockouts).
In the night's first tilt, heavyweight Greg (The Steel Pole) Kielsa of Brampton, Ont., improved to 7-0 (three knockouts) by winning an unanimous eight-round decision over Jerry (Big Daddy) Butler (7-5, seven knockouts).
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