Carlos Molina is Back: Upsets Erislandy Lara, Even Though Judges Call It a Draw

The No.1 spoiler in the game, in my book, and in the eyes of others, "King" Carlos Molina (17-4-2, 5 KOs) returned to action on Friday night ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights." This time he was taking on rising Jr. middleweight Cuban star Erislandy Lara (15-0-1, 10 KOs). Lara, the former 2005 amateur world welterweight champion, is currently ranked No. 5 WBA, No. 6 IBF and No. 10 WBC.

Molina, who is used to taking fights in one week's notice, coming in as the underdog and delivering the upset, had not fought since defeating Danny Perez in June 2009, in that fashion.

He had been inactive by contractual problems with former promoter Don King. Now, he is a promotional free agent. Lara is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and trained by veteran trainer Ronnie Shields. Molina has remained with his two trainers, Victor Mateo and Lou Askenette, throughout his career.

I spoke to Molina before the bout and he told me that he and his trainers had a game plan for victory and that he was looking to upset Lara.

On the ESPN2 broadcast, after agreeing that Molina had won the first three rounds, announcer Teddy Atlas stated that most boxers that are underdogs come in to be competitive, but Molina was different; he has come with a plan to win.

Lara was coming into this fight after knocking out his four previous opponents in the first round. Against Molina after losing the first three rounds, there was a since of urgency. Shields, his trainer, knew Lara was in trouble, encouraging him to be more active and let his hands go.

Molina was effective throughout the bout, throwing body punches and moving, avoiding Lara's punches.

When it was all over, many felt that Molina had won the bout. One judge had it 97-93 for Molina while two other judges scored the bout a 95-95 draw. Thus, the bout was declared a majority draw. Fans at the event and viewers were left disappointed as it was pretty clear who had won the bout.

This was not the first time this has happened to Molina, in 2005 he defeated Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in Mexico but the fight was declared a draw.

Molina will shrug this off as he has done before, content with fans knowing he won, even though the judges did not see it that way. He will continue to train wait for his next fight.

He should be hearing promotional offers soon, as he has proved to be one smart and tough fighter that delivers. The spoiler never disappoints, he comes in looking to upset.