John Molina: “We feel that there’s a “blueprint” on how to beat Adrien Broner”

I had a chance to talk with the hard hitting, John Molina ahead of his March 7th bout with Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner. The bout will between Molina and Broner will headline the first of Al Haymon’s cards on Network TV in what promises to be a great night of fights.

In this interview, John spoke about his beginnings in the sport of boxing and what his thoughts are on fighting Adrien Broner. Molina also discussed his confidence level coming off of two losses and what his gameplan is to upset the odds on March 7th. Lastly, John Molina gives his thoughts on the Robert Guerrero-Keith Thurman fight. Here is what John Molina had to say.

Robert Brown: Can you tell us how your career in the sport began and why you chose boxing as your profession?

John Molina: Yeah I wasn’t good at anything else, so I figured I could pick up boxing — I’m just kidding! The reality is, my father was heavily involved as far as we watched a lot of fights together and we would always watch all the archives of fights, even when I was little.

I always excelled on one-on-one sports, whether it was wrestling — that was one of my favorite sports. I played everything under the sun, from baseball, basketball, soccer, and I really fell in love with the sweet science and realized that I have a gift in the sport, so we ran with it.

Robert Brown: You got a big fight coming up against Adrien Broner on March 7th. How do you feel being able to be on such a huge card and also being able to show your talents to a mainstream audience?

John Molina: It’s a huge opportunity. It’s a huge honor to be able to fight on a mainstream audience with the casual fans, where the grandmothers that go shopping during the day will be able to know about it. It’s such a huge step forward for boxing and I’m glad to be part of it and be the inaugural show.

We’re extremely excited about fighting on this platform, we’ll fight on any platform, if you ask any fighter that question they’ll fight in someone’s back yard if need be. We’re very excited about fighting on this platform. It takes boxing back to where it needs to be, in the mainstream where you’re mentioned with the guys like Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, guys that are mainstream.

Boxing is now going to be at the forefront of sports once again where the champion of the world is gonna be as big as the president of the United States. I think it’s a good thing for boxing and the first card that’s being put on is a phenomenal card, the world is gonna enjoy it. It’s gonna be action packed, can’t miss entertainment both ways. I’m excited to be part of it.

Robert Brown: How do you feel about getting the fight with Adrien Broner?

John Molina: Extremely excited. He’s a guy that is very well known in the sport, he has accomplished a lot in the sport at a young age, so you can’t take away from how gifted he is but we feel we have the recipe to disrupt that up apart and I think we’re gonna do it March 7th.

Robert Brown: Is your gameplan to put him under pressure from the beginning?

John Molina: Not to reveal too many cards about this camp, but we definitely have a gameplan and we’re gonna utilize it March 7th. We feel that there’s a “blueprint” on how to beat Adrien Broner and we’re gonna do everything humanly possible to prepare well and be able to put that gameplan into motion come March 7th. We definitely see some thing that we like, we called him out a year ago and obviously they see some things they like so we’re gonna find out who’s right and who’s wrong on March 7th.

Robert Brown: You’re coming off of a couple of losses, have they affected your confidence and what have you learned from those last two fights?

John Molina: First I was in there with Lucas Matthysse, who’s a warrior. We put on a hell of a show, we gave fans the fight of the year in my opinion and in the grand consensus out there we did win fight of the year. It’s not a matter of being confident or not confident.

Going back to NBC with a mainstream audience, you look at the greats like Sugar Ray Leonard — who I believe had nine losses on his record. You look at all the greats and the undefeated records were almost non existent because you had the best fighting the best. That’s what we anticipate on doing.

I didn’t have the extensive amateur career that everyone else had and I kind of learned on the job so to speak, so we’re ready to go. We’re ready especially for this camp and this fight. As far as the confidence issue, there’s never been a question about my confidence with whomever I’m fighting, it doesn’t matter. I’m excited about this fight, we’re getting up for this fight and my confidence is through the roof.

Robert Brown: There’s another big fight on that card, Robert Guerrero vs. Keith Thurman for the WBA title. What are your thoughts on that fight?

John Molina: From a friend’s perspective — because I’m friends with both fighters — I’m excited as a fan to see the non stop action fight that they’re gonna bring to the table. The fans are really gonna get a treat on March 7th and they’re gonna do it in huge fashion.

NBC is primetime, not just nation wide but world wide. This is a huge platform, there’s one hundred and thirty million homes world wide and to me it’s gonna be a win-win all the way across the board for boxing.

You have a huge platform, you have great fighters, you have action packed fights, I think it’s gonna be a phenomenal card. As far as who I’m picking to win that fight, I really can’t say one or the other, I just think it’s gonna be a great night of boxing. I think those two are gonna bring it all when they come into the ring.

Robert Brown: The Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is still far from being sealed, how disappointing would it be for you if the fight doesn’t happen?

John Molina: They’re the two biggest names in the sport of boxing, I think it would be great for boxing if they can get it on but boxing is a business as well and everything has to make sense and no one does that better than Floyd Mayweather. There’s obviously gonna be some different reasoning behind why this fight may or may not happen.

You can’t really take away from one guy or another, I’m sure they both are more than willing to fight each other but everything’s gotta be right. You gotta remember that this is just as much of a business as it is a sport and this is how we make our living so everything’s gotta be one hundred percent on the up and up in order for a fight of that magnitude to happen.

Would I be disappointed as a fan of boxing? Of course, because these two are the best in the sport of boxing as of right now and we want to see that fight happen. The realization of the fight should have taken place five years ago but the fact of the matter is, the casual fan would love to see that fight. I think it would be the biggest fight in the history of boxing. Am I disappointed? Yes, as a fan I want to see the fight. Will it happen? Who knows but if it doesn’t happen I’m sure there’s good reason behind it.