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| Date | February 18, 1995 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBO Lightweight title | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| De La Hoya wins via unanimous decision (117–110, 116–111, 116–111) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Oscar De La Hoya vs. John John Molina , billed as Ready or Not was a professional boxing match contested on February 18, 1995, for the WBO lightweight title. [1]
For the first defense of his WBO lightweight title, reigning champion Oscar De La Hoya was matched up against 2-time super featherweight world champion, Juan "John John" Molina.
After having faced three consecutive marginal fringe contenders in his previous three title defenses, Molina represented a step up in competition for De La Hoya with Molina offering his opinion that cable network HBO, who exclusively broadcast De La Hoya's fights had "pressured Oscar to get an opponent with a name and a record." However, as Molina, a natural super featherweight who had spent his entire career in that division up to that point, was making his debut in the lightweight division, De La Hoya claimed that his fight with Molina "is going to be one of my easiest fights." [2]
| Title(s) on the line | vacant IBF Inter-Continental Light heavyweight title | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Griffin defeats Toney by majority decision | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The featured undercard bout featured James Toney, in his first fight since suffering his first professional loss at the hands of Roy Jones Jr., taking on undefeated light heavyweight prospect (and De La Hoya's 1992 Olympic teammate) Montell Griffin. [4]
This was the third and final card in under a year to feature both De La Hoya and Toney as the headliners of a boxing card.
Griffin made use of his left hook and good movement to keep his Toney off balance and prevent him from land any counterpunches. Toney hurt Griffin with a counter right cross in the third round but he survived and kept up sticking close to Toney and tying him up in the corner.
The fight went the full 12 rounds, judge Duane Ford scored it even 114–114 while Bill Graham had it 115–113 and Art Lurie 116–112 both in favour of Griffin.
Unofficial HBO scorer Harold Lederman scored it 114–112 for Toney.
Speaking afterwards Griffin said "When he had me hurt, the way I survived is, I’m a low-keyed person, I stayed back until I got my legs back. Toney needs punching room. And I took that punching room away from him."
Toney meanwhile was unhappy with the judges saying "I thought I won the fight, it was a bad decision. I’ll be back. I beat the guy." [5]
De La Hoya scored a first-round knockdown midway through the round, countering a wild Molina right with a left hook that sent Molina down to a knee, but was unable to finish Molina off thereafter as Molina was able take De La Hoya the full 12-round distance for the first time in his career. De La Hoya nevertheless controlled the majority of the fight and won a comfortable unanimous decision, with two judges scoring the fight 116–111 and the third scoring it 117–110. [6] [5] Unofficial HBO scorer Harold Lederman scored it 114–113 for Molina.
De La Hoya's victory over Molina would officially set up a shot at his first major world title against IBF lightweight champion Rafael Ruelas. [7] [5]
Confirmed bouts: [8]
| Weight Class | Weight | vs. | Method | Round | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightweight | 135 lbs. | Oscar De La Hoya (c) | def. | John John Molina | UD | 12/12 | note 1 |
| Light Heavyweight | 175 lbs. | Montell Griffin | def. | James Toney | MD | 12/12 | note 2 |
| Super Featherweight | 130 lbs. | Robert Garcia | def. | Lorenzo Tiznado | RTD | 7/10 | |
| Super Lightweight | 140 lbs. | Daniel Alicea | def. | Roberto Villareal | UD | 8/8 | |
| Light Heavyweight | 175 lbs. | Chris Johnson | def. | Asluddin Umarov | UD | 4/4 |
^Note 1 For WBO Lightweight title
^Note 2 For IBF Inter-Continental Light Heavyweight title
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 United States | HBO |
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