Why Eric Molina Is the Best Available Option to Fight Anthony Joshua in December

Considering the amount of negotiating he's done to make Anthony Joshua's final fight of 2016, promoter Eddie Hearn may be the ideal man to organise Britain's eventual exit from Europe.

The saga—and it has been a saga, make no mistake about it—looks to be coming to a conclusion (Joshua's next opponent that is, not Brexit).

Wladimir Klitschko, left in limbo once Tyson Fury was declared "medically unfit to fight" him in October, was the front-runner for so long. The scene was apparently set: The new kid on the block would face the wise old head. It would be a titanic tussle with huge ramifications for both corners.

But with a lack of time to organise a bout of such magnitude, it was always a long shot to happen. Like a schoolboy with a crush on his teacher, we let ourselves believe it could really happen.

Hearn, though, had to break our hearts.

He told Sky Sports News HQ: "I was made aware that Wladimir picked up a minor injury late last week but regardless of that, with just over six weeks to go until December 10, it's unrealistic to put together a fight of this magnitude and give it the full build up it deserves."

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While a pre-Christmas bash won't now happen between Joshua and Klitschko, the long-term plan is for the pair to meet next year instead.

According to George Gigney of Boxing News, Hearn has March circled on his 2017 calendar for a pay-per-view card at the O2 Arena in London. However, he may want to find a bigger venue—Joshua-Klitschko is big enough to be staged in a stadium.

In the meantime, we have to make the best of the situation. Having already shifted a November show set to be headlined by Joshua from Manchester to London, Hearn wouldn't want to shelve the planned December date, too.

He needed a Plan B. Step forward Eric Molina, an American with a 25-3 (19 KOs) record.

According to Martin Domin in the Mirror, Molina travelled with his father to Manchester on Thursday to confirm the fight. No official announcement has been made yet, but the signs are all there to suggest a deal will be made.

Like a child who hoped to get a remote-controlled car on Christmas Day but ended up with a second-hand Scalextric set missing bits of track and with one dodgy controller, it's hard not to feel a little disappointed.

Molina appears to have seen off competition from David Price to get the fight, and that move makes sense from both from a business and boxing perspective.

When looking at the Texan's record, it's not about who he's beaten but who has beaten him. Last June, he forced Deontay Wilder to work. While it was a one-sided bout, the WBC champion had to wait until Round 9 to get the win:

"What I needed was a tough guy, I needed a guy that had heart, I needed a guy that was going to get dropped but come back up and still fight. I needed that. And Eric Molina, I got that out of him," Wilder said in the aftermath, per SkySports.com.

Those same words ring true for Joshua right now.

His 17 pro bouts have spanned just 41 rounds—he's not been pushed beyond the seventh yet—leaving us to wonder if he's really that good or just being fed a supply line of below-par big men to feast on. In fairness, the talent pool among heavyweights is not particularly deep.

There's no certainty that Molina pushes the 2012 Olympic gold medallist into new territory either. He did, after all, get knocked out inside a round by Chris Arreola back in 2012.

But in terms of a career choice, his reputation in the United States may have tipped the balance in his favour. Molina's bravery against Wilder was impressive, but he also caught his rival with a left hook in Round 3 that briefly threatened to cause an upset.

Hearn knows that Joshua will always attract a crowd at home. He's headlining pay-per-view bills, even if there are only so many easy knockouts you can serve up before the routine wears thin and viewers are less inclined to fork out for the privilege of watching no-contests.

However, Joshua is gaining traction across the other side of the Atlantic now. After signing a multi-fight deal with Showtime, he has a new audience to impress.

With that in mind, fighting Price might barely have created a ripple of interest across the pond. In contrast, Molina, who is ranked in the top 10 by the IBF, offers the chance to be directly compared to Wilder. Live on US television, Joshua has the chance to better the Bronze Bomber's efforts and make a real statement.

There is a shared opponent between Joshua and Molina. The former needed just over four minutes to dismiss Brazilian Raphael Zumbano Love—it took the latter until Round 8 to get the job done.

As an extra comparison for you, completely free of charge, it is interesting to note Charles Martin—the Prince whom Joshua emphatically flattened to become IBF king in April—had to go into Round 10 against Love.

Price's main bargaining chip at the table concerned his previous history with Joshua.

The pair sparred together in 2011, and although normally stories from such sessions don't spread beyond the walls of the gym, Price revealed to Sky Sports (h/t Richard Damerell of SkySports.com) how he knocked his young opponent out.

"If it was a fight, it would have been stopped immediately. Not asleep, but flat on his face and ushered out of the ring by his trainers," the Liverpudlian said.

Much has happened since then, but Price's plan in going public was clear. By recalling the past, he hoped to earn a shot at Joshua in the future.

The problem is, however, while his rival's career has been on the up and up ever since that spar five years ago, Price's stock has plummeted.

After making smooth progress at domestic level, his career unravelled in 2013 with back-to-back defeats against Tony Thompson. An attempt to rebuild his reputation in mainland Europe went well...until he ran into a left hook from Erkan Teper in July 2015.

All three outcomes have question marks over them following results of drugs tests. Thompson failed one after the rematch, while Teper was caught out the year before his clash with Price yet was still allowed to fight on.

While results can be changed retrospectively, it is hard to erase the memories of what happened in the ring. They clearly were not fair contests, but the way those bouts ended left serious questions over Price's chin.

Now under the guidance of a new trainer in Dave Coldwell, Price's second comeback has seen him record facile wins over unknown duo Vaclav Pejsar and Ivica Perkovic.

After picking Perkovic apart on October 1 in Germany, Price said, per Isaac Robinson of SkySports.com: "If the opportunity to fight Anthony Joshua came along then obviously I'd take it. It's a life-changing opportunity."

That opportunity for the fight is there because, as yet, Price's punch resistance hasn't been tested since that harrowing loss to Teper. If he's going to lose again, it would make sense to be in a big, lucrative fight.

But from Joshua's point of view, facing his fellow Englishman would have meant having little to gain and a lot to lose. He did settle an old score with old amateur rival Dillian Whyte last year, but that was at a time when he was fighting for a domestic title. Now, as a world champion, the reward has to make the risk worthwhile.

In reality, Price is waiting on the same platform as compatriot David Haye. They're both there, heavyweights looking to remain relevant so one of the title holders gives them an opportunity.

Haye can actually make a stronger case. He is a former two-weight world champion who, like Price, has also had two walkover wins on his return to action.

However, Hearn told David Anderson of the Mirror in May that a Joshua-Haye showdown was "maybe one for next summer."

While Joshua may consider domestic duties at some stage in his future, Molina looks likely to be the next man up.

It's not the heavyweight fight everyone hoped to see in December, but to paraphrase a line from Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem In Memoriam A.H.H., tis better to be a boxer with a fight than to never fight at all. Just ask Wladimir, who is left dormant at a stage in his career when time is no longer on his side.

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