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Steven boxing commentator8/25/2023 ![]() After winning the vacant IBF super bantamweight championship title against Michael Hunter in England, the native of Sarnia, Ont., came back home where Tremblay made him the house fighter at Casino Rama, near Orillia, Ont. Molitor still managed a bit of notoriety. “Had he been a heavyweight, oh my gosh he would have been absolutely huge.” “I lived that from a marketing point of view,” said Tremblay, used to call Molitor Canada’s Best Kept Secret. They want to see heavyweights like George Chavulo or Lennox Lewis throwing haymakers and knocking each other senseless. Most fans cannot appreciate a bloodless, technical sparring match. Unlike in Mexico or Latin America, sprite-sized fighters are a difficult sell in this country. The challenge was convincing Canadians that they should be just as excited about a 5-foot-7 boxer who did not just move like a ballet dancer, but also had the weight of one. He didn’t have the power yet, but he moved like a ballet dancer and with his speed I just said, ‘Wow, this kid is special.’ ” This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. I can watch two guys fighting on a street corner and I can tell you which one could be a fighter based on the speed of his punches. “That’s the first thing I always look for. The first time promoter Allan Tremblay saw Molitor fight was when he beat former Olympian Scotty Olsen for the Canadian super bantamweight title in 2002. Then again, if I have a good performance here, there’s always the possibility of a title shot with my next fight. “I feel young, but being 32, I know that I’m near the end of my time. “I’m at the stage where one more loss and I’ll probably just hang them up, you know what I mean,” Molitor said before leaving for Northern Ireland. Promoters have tried to hype Molitor (33-2 with 12 knockouts) as more than a doormat against the younger Frampton (14-0, nine KOs). Molitor said he had been training for another fight when Frampton’s opponent pulled out with an injury and Molitor was asked if he could be a last-minute replacement. After all, this fight was never actually supposed to happen. It may have been little more than pre-fight talk. He has never been in the ring with someone on my level.” Molitor said this week that “this is too soon for Frampton. Or it could lead to one more chance, one more big payday. Molitor is not ready to go there just yet. At least, that is what people in his camp are saying. Win or lose, the upcoming fight against Carl Frampton could be Molitor’s last. So I’m grateful for everything boxing’s done for me.” So there’s a part of me that’s looking forward to being done with boxing, but it made me who I am and it’s given my kids an opportunity to be better in life. “You have to come here and get ready to kill, so to speak, and it’s not like a light switch you can turn off when you go home and play with your kids. I love boxing, it’s always going to be a part of my life, but I look forward to not having that stress, to just being able to drink, like, six beers and relax. I was living out of the boxing gym for three years before I got an apartment. “You’re training, training, training, you fight, you win, you lose, you get knocked out. ![]() “Boxing’s a tough life,” he said, the words coming out in rapid-fire bursts, like a series of jabs. Article content I’m thankful that I’ve made enough money in boxing that I can stay home with my kids Or a final chance to say goodbye to a sport he has loved and hated at the same time. Like the cherry on top of what has been a long and successful career. So the fight he has lined up against a 25-year-old champion in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Saturday - Molitor’s first bout in almost a year - sort of feels unnecessary. ![]() He and his wife own expensive cars that were paid for in cash, live in a big house with three children and are in the process of building an even bigger home in London, Ont. So he boxed harder than his 122-pound frame really should have allowed, because his life sort of depended on it, and eventually he became champion and one of the most successful boxers in this country. There was, of course, a time when Molitor had nothing, when he was a 20-year-old living out of Toronto’s Atlas Boxing Gym, a hockey bag full of clothes and not much else to his name. Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receipt.
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