Pakistan born British Boxing star Amir khan Won against US Carlos Molina

Amir Khan had lost his previous two fights – and his super lightweight championship – prior to Saturday, so he fired trainer Freddie Roach and hired Virgil Hunter to replace him.

Khan also picked as his next opponent Carlos Molina of Norwalk, probably because Molina at 5-feet-6 is four inches shorter than Khan and because Molina is a light puncher. That’s important because Khan in July was stopped by Danny Garcia in the fourth round and a loss like that often is followed by a fight with someone who can’t crack.

Khan and Molina squared off Saturday in the main event at the Sports Arena. Khan, as expected, dominated Molina and stopped him after the 10 th of 12 rounds in front of 6,109.

Referee Jack Reiss called a halt to the bout on the advice of Molina’s corner, with Khan getting credit for a 10 th-round technical knockout. There were no knockdowns and Khan was ahead by nine points on all three scorecards.

Khan, of England, was much quicker and landed much harder punches, one of which opened a cut around Molina’s left eye in the third round. Molina proved a gutsy foe and did land a few clean shots, but they did nothing to Khan (27-3, 19 KOs).

“I thought I stuck to my game plan, which meant stick to my jab,” said Khan, who landed a stiff jab along with some crisp right crosses and left hooks. “Carlos took some really good shots and he was still coming forward and that’s when I thought to myself, ‘I better stick with this game plan.'”

Khan praised Hunter.

“Virgil is a great trainer and I’m getting better at boxing and at being a complete fighter,” Khan said. “He’s teaching me boxing, speed, patience and picking the right shots and when to throw them.”

Khan then said he would like another crack at Garcia, who was in the crowd.

“In that fight he caught me with a good shot,” Khan said. “But I’ll fight him any time, anywhere.”

Molina was not happy with his work.

“I don’t know what happened,” said Molina, whose face was bloody. “I wanted to pull the trigger, but for some reason I couldn’t let my hands go. I had a lack of precision. He was fast in his jab and I was hesitant in trying to get in because he has a long reach. I didn’t do my job and I have to work harder because I lost my undefeated record.”

Deontay Wilder has a dream of becoming the next great American heavyweight. His numbers going into his semi-main event against Kelvin Price suggested he might have a chance to realize that dream.

Wilder was 25-0 with 25 knockouts. Make that 26-0 with 26 knockouts after he beat Price with a gigantic right hand in the third round.

Price went down in a heap, then tried to get up. But as soon as referee Ray Corona saw the shape Price was in, he waved off the fight at 51 seconds.

Wilder had done little in the first two rounds, but he suggested he was just waiting for the right time.

“The experience has helped me a lot to stay patient and just be calm because I know it’s going to come,” said Wilder, of Tuscaloosa, Ala. “I’m not sure when it’s going to come, but when it comes, ‘Bam.'”

Price did not truly comprehend what happened.

“He caught me with a shot, but I don’t believe it was a knockout,” said Price, the Pensacola, Fla. native who fell to 13-1.

In the main event of the daytime portion of the Golden Boy Promotions event, Leo Santa Cruz of Los Angeles defended his bantamweight world title with a hard-fought unanimous decision over Alberto Guevara.

There were no knockdowns, but Santa Cruz was bleeding from his nose early and Guevara sustained a cut over his right eye in the sixth round.

Jonathan Davis had Santa Cruz (23-0-1) winning by a 116-112 count, Pat Russell had it 118-110 and Fritz Werner 119-109.

The latter two scores seemed a bit high as Guevara, of San Diego, gave a good account of himself.

“I’m sorry I didn’t give that great of a show today,” Santa Cruz said. “I felt a little different. I couldn’t breathe since the third round and I was breathing out of my mouth.

“I messed up my right hand a little bit during sparring, so that’s why I turned to southpaw (in the later rounds). Usually I throw more body shots, but I couldn’t because he was running too much.”

Guevara (16-1) actually was boxing more than running.

It was Santa Cruz’s fifth fight of the year and he intimated it might have been a bit too much.

“I’ve been fighting a lot lately,” he said, “and I don’t think I’ve been giving myself time to rest in between.”

Joseph Diaz Jr., a 2012 U.S. Olympian from South El Monte, won his pro debut with a four-round unanimous decision over Mexico’s Vicente Alfaro (5-3) in the super bantamweight division. Diaz won by three scores of 40-35.

Junior middleweight contender Alfredo Angulo has been saying he is ready for a world title fight. He certainly did not look like he is based on his performance against unheralded Jorge Silva of Chula Vista. Angulo, of Mexicali, did win their 10-round fight via unanimous decision; all three scores were 97-93.

But Angulo ate a lot of leather and was hurt a couple of times by Silva. Similarly, Angulo had Silva on the run from time to time, but Silva took everything Angulo had and never hit the canvas.

Angulo (22-2) might have made things easier on himself had he gone to the body more. Every time Angulo landed a left downstairs, Silva (18-3-2) winced. Angulo, however, seemed more interested in head-hunting.

It was Angulo’s second fight in the past five weeks after being off a year, in large part because he spent seven months in an immigration detention center.

“I asked for a fighter that would make me work because I wanted to see where I really was after taking (a year) off,” Angulo, 30, said. “The important thing was to be able to get out of there with a win and get the work, too.

“I think I’m a lot better than I was before. But I did feel sluggish tonight.”

Angulo on Friday weighed in at 154 1/2 pounds, a half-pound over the junior middleweight limit. He entered the ring at 168.

“That’s the heaviest I’ve ever been,” Angulo said.

Shaw Porter of Cleveland and Julio “The Kidd” Diaz of Indio engaged each other in 10 hotly contested rounds in the welterweight division. At the end it was obvious the fight could go either way, and it was scored a split draw. Porter (20-0-1) and Diaz both were given the fight by a 96-94 count with the third score coming in at 95-95.

Diaz, a former lightweight champion, is 40-7-1.

In other action, Frankie Gomez of East Los Angeles improved to 14-0 with 11 knockouts after stopping Tijuana’s Pavel Miranda at 48 seconds of the first round.

After Gomez sent Miranda to the deck, Miranda (17-9-1) beat the count but was in no condition to continue. He staggered around before the referee stepped in and waved it off.

sgvtribune.com

Tags: Amir khan, Amir Won, Carlos Molina, Pakistani Boxer

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