by: Sean Crose
“John Molina, Jr., who was scheduled to be in the main event, will be rescheduled to return to the ring soon. And former welterweight champion Victor Ortiz, who was slated to face Molina, will no longer be on the card.” So read a Wednesday press release, making it clear that Sunday’s scheduled John Molina – Victor Ortiz battle, which was to be aired live on Fox Sports 1, was cancelled. Although no specific reason was given in the press release, the cancellation comes as no surprise, as Ortiz was arrested on very serious charges of sexual assault this week in California.
Knowing that the show must go on, however, PBC and Fox have offered a replacement for the card’s main event on Sunday. To quote the press release: “Undefeated Featherweight Contender Brandon Figueroa Takes on Former Title Challenger Oscar Escandon in Main Event.” Figueroa is an undefeated up and comer, boasting a record of 16-0, with 11 knockouts to his name. Escandon, Figeroa’s 25-4 opponent, is a former Olympian from Columbia who notably lost to the very impressive Gary Russel Junior back in 2017. A victory over Escandon will help Figueroa on his rise to what he hopes is the top of the division.
As for Ortiz: he was once one of boxing’s most notable names, so much so that he faced Floyd Mayweather in a pay per view match back in 2011. The California based fighter lost that fight in extremely strange fashion, when Mayweather knocked Ortiz out after Ortiz tried to touch gloves after butting Mayweather in the head. Ortiz’ public life has been rather odd ever since. He’s appeared on Dancing With The Stars and in an Expendables film. Yet he’s also been arrested at a country concert, and has only won three of his last seven bouts. What’s more, he’s been knocked out viciously by Louis Collazo and Andre Berto respectively since the Mayweather fiasco.
Regarding Molina, the game veteran was coming in off a win over Ivan Redkach last December in California. A victory over Ortiz would, at the very least, have signaled a win over a name opponent after Molina was stopped b Terence Crawford in the 8th round back in 2016. As of press time, there was no word on who Molina would fight next. As for Ortiz, the certain is particularly uncertain.
“Bad news,” Molina said on Instagram, “the fight has officially been canceled, obviously due to uncontrollable circumstances from Team Ortiz.”