John John Molina

Juan Molina (born March 17, 1965), better known as John John Molina in the world of boxing, is a former boxer whose career transcended boxing in Puerto Rico. A multiple time world champion, this boxer was also known as quite a socialite. Molina is a native of Fajardo, Puerto Rico.

Amateur career

Molina represented Puerto Rico as a Bantamweight at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. His results were:

• 1st round bye
• Defeated Jarmo Eskelinen (Finland) 5-0
• Lost to Pedro Nolasco (Dominican Republic) 2-3

Molina won the Boxing World Cup in Seoul, South Korea, November 1985, by knocking out Kelcie Banks in the finals. Upon returning to Puerto Rico, the 20-year-old youngster announced to Rafael Bracero on TV he would be ready to fight professional world Featherweight champion Victor Luvi Callejas within a year. That wasn't to happen, however.

Professional career

Molina started as a professional on February 25, 1986, beating Job Walters by a decision in four. His first three fights were decisions. He won his first 14 bouts, nine of them by knockout. Among the people he beat during that span was Victor Aponte, who was a stablemate of both Alberto Mercado and Juan Carazo. Aponte got knocked out by Molina in the 10th and final round. During this period of his career, Molina received much television exposure in Puerto Rico, many of his fights being shown on TV by producer and fight commentator Ivonne Class and her Video Deportes company.

Then, he faced Lupe Suarez, losing for the first time, when he was knocked out in the ninth round. Immediately after suffering his first loss, he embarked on a five-fight win streak, including a disqualification win in four rounds over former Hector Camacho world title challenger Rafael Solis, and a knockout in eight over Miguel Medina. After those two wins, he was ranked as the number one challenger by the IBF.

On October 27, 1988, Molina was at The Arco Arena in Sacramento, to challenge the IBF super featherweight champion Tony Lopez, in what marked the beginning of a three-fight rivalry between Molina and Lopez. Molina dropped Lopez in round two, but Lopez went on to retain the title by a split decision.

In his next fight, April 29, 1989, the WBO put him and former WBC featherweight champion Juan Laporte against each other for the vacant WBO super featherweight title. Molina became a world champion by beating Laporte by a 12-round unanimous decision at Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan.

First IBF world title

in September of 1989, he returned to Arco Arena to resume his rivalry with Lopez. Molina won the IBF belt by knocking Lopez out in the tenth round.

On January 28, 1990, he avenged his loss to Suarez by knocking him out in the sixth round to retain the belt, but then, on May 20 of that year, he and Lopez met for their rubber match, this time in Reno. Lopez dropped Molina and won a unanimous decision to recover his status as world Jr. Lightweight champion.

Rebuilding

Between 1990 and 1992, Molina won five straight fights, four by knockout.

Second title reign

In early 1992, after Brian Mitchell (who had beaten Lopez), left the IBF title vacant due to retirement, Molina travelled to South Africa, where he met Jackie Gunguzula for the vacant world title. He knocked Gunguzula out in the fourth round to become world champion once again,<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vcg6mR1mpUQ</ref> and, days later, he was the object of a large welcoming at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan. During this period of his reign, Molina made seven defenses, beating challengers like Bernard Taylor, Floyd Havard, Wilson Rodriguez, former world Featherweight champion Gregorio Vargas and future world Featherweight champion Manuel "Mantecas" Medina, among others.

Around then, he became quite known by the mainstream Puerto Rican public, becoming one of the first boxers ever to be portrayed on the cover of Vea magazine, and dating a famous model.

De La Hoya vs. Molina

Template:Main Molina then moved up in weight to challenge the WBO lightweight champion Oscar De La Hoya, losing by a unanimous decision in 12 rounds in an HBO Boxing televised event.<ref name="yardbarker">Template:Cite web</ref>

Latter career

After that, Molina engaged in a series of fights against mostly lower-level opposition for the next two years, and he grew frustrated over the fact that his opposition level was being downgraded by promoters after the fight with de la Hoya. He won his next nine bouts, but the only two opponents that can probably be called respectable names in his list of opponents during that span were Jaime "Rocky" Balboa, beaten by decision in ten, and Isaac Cruz, beaten by a disqualification in four.

On May 9, 1998, Molina was given a second chance at a world lightweight championship, when he met IBF champion Sugar Shane Mosley, in Molina's second HBO fight. Mosley retained the title by a knockout in the eighth round, and Molina went back to the super featherweight division.

His next fight was also for the world title, but he had to wait nine months for that fight. In February 1999, he faced IBF super featherweight champion Robert Garcia, dropping the champion in their pay per view event but losing a 12-round decision in what turned out to be his last world title fight.

Molina wasn't done with boxing, and he went on to win seven more fights in a row, including two decision wins, one of which was televised by the USA Network over Emanuel Burton, and another one over future Kostya Tszyu world title challenger Ben Tackie, which was on the undercard of the Lennox Lewis vs. David Tua fight's pay per view program.

His last fight was a T.K.O. loss to Mexican Juan Lazcano, Molina retired from boxing after the fight.

Professional boxing record

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
59	Template:No2Loss	52–7	Juan Lazcano	TKO	11 (12), Template:Small	May 5, 2001	Template:Small	Template:Small
58	Template:Yes2Win	52–6	Ben Tackie	SD	10	Nov 11, 2000	Template:Small
57	Template:Yes2Win	51–6	Emanuel Augustus	UD	10	May 12, 2000	Template:Small
56	Template:Yes2Win	50–6	Juan Carlos Suárez	TKO	8 (12), Template:Small	Feb 16, 2000	Template:Small	Template:Small
55	Template:Yes2Win	49–6	Manuel Garnica	UD	10	Nov 14, 1999	Template:Small
54	Template:Yes2Win	48–6	Javier Carmona	KO	1 (10), Template:Small	Oct 20, 1999	Template:Small
53	Template:Yes2Win	47–6	James Crayton	UD	10	Jul 16, 1999	Template:Small
52	Template:Yes2Win	46–6	Ruben Nevarez	TKO	7 (12), Template:Small	Mar 20, 199	Template:Small	Template:Small
51	Template:No2Loss	45–6	Robert Garcia	UD	12	Jan 16, 1999	Template:Small	Template:Small
50	Template:No2Loss	45–5	Shane Mosley	TKO	8 (12), Template:Small	May 9, 1998	Template:Small	Template:Small
49	Template:Yes2Win	45–4	Alex Pérez	TKO	8 (10)	Dec 14, 1997	Template:Small
48	Template:Yes2Win	44–4	Moses James	UD	10	Nov 11, 1997	Template:Small
47	Template:Yes2Win	43–4	Joey Negron	RTD	6 (10)	Oct 2, 1997	Template:Small
46	Template:Yes2Win	42–4	Elías Quiroz	TKO	6 (10)	May 31, 1997	Template:Small
45	Template:Yes2Win	41–4	Isaac Cruz	DQ	4 (10), Template:Small	Mar 22, 1997	Template:Small
44	Template:Yes2Win	40–4	James Crayton	UD	10	Jan 18, 1997	Template:Small
43	Template:Yes2Win	39–4	Jaime Balboa	UD	10	Apr 10, 1996	Template:Small
42	Template:Yes2Win	38–4	Eduardo Pérez	TKO	6 (12), Template:Small	Dec 1, 1995	Template:Small
41	Template:Yes2Win	37–4	Mark Reels	PTS	10	May 8, 1995	Template:Small
40	Template:No2Loss	36–4	Oscar De La Hoya	UD	12	Feb 18, 1995	Template:Small	Template:Small
39	Template:Yes2Win	36–3	Wilson Rodriguez	KO	10 (12), Template:Small	Nov 26, 1994	Template:Small	Template:Small
38	Template:Yes2Win	35–3	Gregorio Vargas	UD	12	Apr 22, 1994	Template:Small	Template:Small
37	Template:Yes2Win	34–3	Floyd Havard	RTD	6 (12), Template:Small	Jan 22, 1994	Template:Small	Template:Small
36	Template:Yes2Win	33–3	Bernard Taylor	TKO	8 (12), Template:Small	Oct 9, 1993	Template:Small	Template:Small
35	Template:Yes2Win	32–3	Manuel Medina	UD	12	Jun 26, 1993	Template:Small	Template:Small
34	Template:Yes2Win	31–3	Tony Duran	TKO	3	May 14, 1993	Template:Small
33	Template:Yes2Win	30–3	Francisco Segura	TKO	8 (12), Template:Small	Feb 13, 1993	Template:Small	Template:Small
32	Template:Yes2Win	29–3	Fernando Caicedo	TKO	4 (12), Template:Small	Aug 22, 1992	Template:Small	Template:Small
31	Template:Yes2Win	28–3	Donnie Parker	KO	7	Jul 2, 1992	Template:Small
30	Template:Yes2Win	27–3	Jackie Gunguluza	TKO	4 (12), Template:Small	Feb 22, 1992	Template:Small	Template:Small
29	Template:Yes2Win	26–3	Francisco Ortiz	TKO	2	Jan 14, 1992	Template:Small
28	Template:Yes2Win	25–3	Rowdy Welch	PTS	10	Sep 13, 1991	Template:Small
27	Template:Yes2Win	24–3	Darryl Richardson	TKO	3	Jul 27, 1991	Template:Small
26	Template:Yes2Win	23–3	Víctor Aponte	TKO	4	Jun 29, 1991	Template:Small
25	Template:Yes2Win	22–3	Mario Gómez	TKO	3 (10), Template:Small	Nov 3, 1990	Template:Small
24	Template:No2Loss	21–3	Tony Lopez	SD	12	May 20, 1990	Template:Small	Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	21–2	Lupe Suárez	TKO	6 (12), Template:Small	Jan 28, 1990	Template:Small	Template:Small
22	Template:Yes2Win	20–2	Tony Lopez	TKO	10 (12), Template:Small	Oct 7, 1989	Template:Small	Template:Small
21	Template:Yes2Win	19–2	Juan Laporte	UD	12	Apr 29, 1989	Template:Small	Template:Small
20	Template:No2Loss	18–2	Tony Lopez	UD	12	Oct 27, 1988	Template:Small	Template:Small
19	Template:Yes2Win	18–1	Miguel Medina	TKO	8 (10), Template:Small	Jul 16, 1988	Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	17–1	Rafael Solis	DQ	4	Jun 6, 1988	Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	16–1	Fernando Maldonado	TKO	4	Nov 28, 1987	Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	15–1	Richard Campbell	KO	4	Jul 25, 1987	Template:Small
15	Template:No2Loss	14–1	Lupe Suárez	TKO	9 (10), Template:Small	May 24, 1987	Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	14–0	Víctor Aponte	TKO	10 (10)	Mar 19, 1987	Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	13–0	Chris Silvas	KO	3 (8), Template:Small	Feb 8, 1987	Template:Small
12	Template:Yes2Win	12–0	Carlos Albuerne	TKO	3 (8)	Dec 20, 1986	Template:Small
11	Template:Yes2Win	11–0	Kevin Marston	UD	8	Dec 11, 1986	Template:Small
10	Template:Yes2Win	10–0	Norís Gautier	KO	1 (8)	Nov 8, 1986	Template:Small
9	Template:Yes2Win	9–0	Na'eem Muhammad	KO	1, Template:Small	Aug 16, 1986	Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	8–0	Don Foster	TKO	1 (6), Template:Small	Jul 12, 1986	Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	7–0	Floyd Simmons	KO	2	Jun 21, 1986	Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	6–0	Jose Gonzales	RTD	5 (8)	May 24, 1986	Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	5–0	Job Walters	PTS	6	Apr 12, 1986	Template:Small
4	Template:Yes2Win	4–0	John Wesley	TKO	1 (4), Template:Small	Apr 3, 1986	Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	3–0	Darrell Jacobs	UD	4	Mar 9, 1986	Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	2–0	Ricky West	UD	4	Mar 2, 1986	Template:Small
1	Template:Yes2Win	1–0	Job Walters	MD	4	Feb 25, 1986	Template:Small

See also

• List of Puerto Ricans
• List of Puerto Rican boxing world champions
• List of super-featherweight boxing champions