Molina outpoints Imam over eight rounds

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The meeting of former junior welterweight prospects went Molina’s way in Vegas.

Amir Imam and Javier Molina were both pretty highly-regarded prospects at one point, but both have suffered some setbacks and are now looking to hang on in the 140-pound decision. The two met tonight on the Wilder-Fury 2 prelims, with Molina taking a decision over eight rounds.

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The fight was originally scheduled for 10 rounds, but thanks to TV time constraints, was changed to eight rounds at pretty much the last minute. The bout played out as a well-matched meeting of guys who are no longer prospects but also definitely haven’t emerged as contenders. Neither seems to have that next-level talent they were once hoped to have, and I don’t think we saw the emergence of that in either tonight.

But Molina (22-2, 9 KO) got the win on scores of 78-74, 78-74, and 79-73, and ran his win streak to five, while handing Imam (22-3, 19 KO) his second loss in his last three bouts.

We’ll see if the 30-year-old Molina might be able to keep the momentum going and get himself into contender status, and he’s certainly not too old for that to happen. For Imam, it’s once again back to the drawing board.