Welcome to Fightful.com's live viewing party of Anthony Joshua vs. Eric Molina for Joshua's IBF world heavyweight championship. We'll be bringing you recaps of the undercard and full, round-by-round coverage of the main event fight which will be broadcasted on Showtime.
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Here is the main event fight and the top undercard fights:
Anthony Joshua defeated Eric Molina via TKO, round 3, 2:02, to retain the IBF heavyweight title
Dillian Whyte defeated Dereck Chisora via split decision (115-114, 113-115, 115-114)
Kal Yafai defeated Luis Concepcion via unanimous decision (120-108, 119-108, 117-110) to win the vacant WBA world super flyweight championship fight
Callum Smith defeated Luke Blackledge via KO, round 10, to retain the British super middleweight championship fight
Luis Ortiz defeated David Allen via TKO, round 7
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UNDERCARD
Luis Ortiz defeated David Allen via TKO, round 7: Ortiz dominated this match, as expected. Ortiz pretty much toyed with Allen throughout the whole bout until the referee stopped the fight in the seventh round. It wasn't that Allen was a bad boxer, far from it. Ortiz is simply far better as a boxer and in experience and it was a clear mismatch. With the win, Ortiz remains unbeaten in all 27 of his fights as a professional boxer. Despite Ortiz being 37 years old, he is still a top 10 heavyweight and his next fight could be against Shannon Briggs, who has not lost a fight in three years.
Callum Smith defeated Luke Blackledge via KO, round 10, to retain the British super middleweight championship fight: Another strong performance from Callum Smith, who had been struggling to find motivation for this fight. Smith hit Blackledge with a barrage of hard punches throughout the fight. Smith knocked down Blackledge in the third round of the fight and it looked like it would be stopped at various times, but Blackledge showed a ton of heart here. It all ended with Smith dropping Blackledge for good in the 10th round of the bout. It is expected that Smith will face the winner of the Badou Jack vs. James DeGale super middleweight world title fight on January 14 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Kal Yafai defeated Luis Concepcion via unanimous decision (120-108, 119-108, 117-110) to win the vacant WBA world super flyweight championship fight: And the dominating wins in the undercard continue as Kal Yafai nearly pitched a shutout in the scorecards to become the first man from Birmingham, England, to win a boxing world title. Concepcion missed weight for this fight, so only Yafai could win the title. Yafai won most of the rounds, but Concepcion fought back in the later rounds to make the fight interesting and it did not help Yafai that he got a point deducted from him due to a standing count, something he was not happy about. Regardless, it was a boxing clinic conducted by Yafai. He's now a champion in a division that has WBC super flyweight champion Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez, arguably the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world. A fight between these two could be a very interesting affair.
Dillian Whyte defeated Dereck Chisora via split decision (115-114, 113-115, 115-114): The two men have been engaged in a heated feud that reached it's fever pitch when Chisora threw a table at Whyte during a press conference a couple of days ago. Whyte and Chisora begin their war with both men pummeling each with hard punches, but Chisora's fast-paced style is putting pressure on Whyte, but Whyte would not back down. The two continue battling throughout the fight and it even got weird late in the fight when Whyte put his head on Chisora's groin, which Chisora would proceed to seemingly start humping it. Regardless, the two men had one of the best fights in the second half of 2016 and I fully expect a rematch to happen between the two, maybe not in the immediate future, but possibly when either man has a world title around his waist.
MAIN EVENT
Anthony Joshua vs. Eric Molina: IBF world heavyweight championship fight
Round 1: The moment the bell rings, the crowd explodes and Molina is already leaning on the ropes. Joshua is utilizing the right jab to land some early body shots. Joshua then connects on 1-2 combo. Joshua is now using the left jab and is connecting on his punches, but not doing a lot of damage. Molina responds with a body shot and Joshua responds with a left body hook. A left hook to the jaw of Molina momentarily stuns him.
Fightful scores round 1 for Joshua 10-9
Round 2: Molina is once again leaning from the ropes and has his hands up. Joshua with a jab and hook combo and the two men clinch. Joshua connects on a left hook to Molina's head. Molina is now starting to fight back by throwing a jab and moving to the middle of the ring. Molina is barely throwing a punch. He then throws a wile right hook and misses. Joshua responds with a body shot and the men clinch one more time.
Fightful scores round 2 for Joshua 10-9
Round 3: Joshua picks up the pace with a stiff jab to Molina's head. Molina is being overly cautious in the fight so far. Joshua gets close and tries to attack the inside with body shots, but Molina is just looking to clinch, not even counterattack. Joshua knocks down Molina with an insane left jab to the temple of Molina. Once he gets back up, Joshua just punished Molina until the referee stopped the fight.
Official Result: Anthony Joshua defeated Eric Molina via TKO, round 3, 2:02, to retain the IBF heavyweight title
