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Omar Figueroa is coming off of a strong Fight of the Year candidate in his win over Nihito Arakawa, but he may have another challenge ahead, at least if the potential opponent gets his wish. Coming off of his own much-discussed victory, veteran John Molina says he hopes to face Figueroa in what is on paper another great action fight.
Molina (26-3, 21 KO) struggled against Mickey Bey on the July 19 edition of ShoBox, before stunning viewers with a 10th and final round TKO, as he trailed on all three cards by a substantial margin. It's rare we see fighters snatch victory from the jaws of defeat like that, but Molina now has a verified knack for doing so.
Figueroa (22-0-1, 17 KO) went through 12 exceptionally brutal rounds this past weekend with Arakawa on Showtime, stealing the show on a televised tripleheader where each fight was really quite fantastic.
Molina tells Robert Morales that there are some preliminary discussions going on to match him with Figueroa. I don't think there's any doubt that this is a fight people would love to see, as it just has slugfest written all over it. With Molina's toughness and experience combined with Figueroa's warrior attitude and vulnerability, it's also a nicely risky fight for the Golden Boy prospect.
Personally, I hope this is a fight we see. It's a great next step for Figueroa and another opportunity for Molina to get himself back into contention.