Steve “The Canadian Kid” Molitor entered the ring Friday night to AC/DC’s Thunderstruck, and when he climbed between the ropes and stripped off his blood red robe, his t-shirt read, ‘R.I.P. Arturo Gatti.’
It was his way of honouring the man affectionately known as ‘Thunder’, who Molitor trained with in Montreal in the early stages of his career.
Aside from their stints in the home of Les Canadiens, the two had little in common as fighters. Gatti was infamous for his lack of restraint --- a brave, but sometimes undisciplined brawler with a propensity to dismiss defence altogether in favour of one-punch heroism. Molitor, on the other hand, has crafted a well-earned reputation as a careful counter-puncher with a strong sense of self-preservation in his approach to the sweet science.
It goes without saying which style infuses more drama in fights and stirs more spirits.
For that, Gatti will go down as an immortal.
That doesn’t mean Molitor’s a boring fighter, he just picks his spots a little more cautiously. And on Friday night, he found the perfect opponent to shine against - a late substitute who primarily padded his record on impotent journeymen, travel adverse countrymen, and glass jawed has-beens.
Staring down at his diminutive foe at Rumble at Rama IX, Molitor did something he rarely does in the ring. Much like Gatti during the legendary bouts of his Atlantic City prime, he threw caution to the wind and let his hands fly, resulting in a crowd pleasing 5th round technical knockout over Argentina’s Dario Azuaga. It was Molitor’s first KO in over a year and did much more to restore his previously shattered confidence (KO loss to current unified Super Bantamweight champ Celestino Caballero), than his comparatively lacklustre split decision victory over a skilled and slippery Heriberto Ruiz in June.
Molitor had Azuaga, whose record stood at 76-16-2 with 64KOs, down in the second and fourth rounds before his corner mercifully tossed in the white towel in the fifth concussive frame.
The fight also marked Molitor’s reunion with former trainer Chris Johnson. The two separated after a very public dispute over his managerial and promotional handling, but they appear to have put the past behind them. They are now undefeated in eight fights together.
“Now that I’m back with Chris, we’ve got our groove back, our rhythm back inside the ring and this is definitely a fight for me to show that I’m still at the world class level,” an unblemished Molitor remarked at the post-fight press conference.
When asked if he was summoning up a bit of the Gatti grit, Molitor responded respectfully, “Those are big shoes to fill…he was a great legend, a great Canadian fighter and hopefully he was looking down with a smile tonight.
“I wanted to be more aggressive, everyone knows that I’m a counter-puncher, we wanted to work on stepping to this guy and throwing a lot more punches and satisfying the crowd as well,” he admitted.
Johnson seemed pleased that his pupil chose to sit down on his punches and go for the stoppage.
"Steve did a lot less moving tonight and he came inside more," Johnson said. "I was pretty impressed with his performance. Great things will come from Steve Molitor."
Even greater things may come from 19-year-old Marvin Sonsona. The Filipino sensation is already being compared to Manny Pacquiao, and he showed glimpses of Pacman’s freakish power during a thrilling main event against Puerto Rican WBO Jr. Bantamweight champion Jose Lopez, 37.
It was Lopez’s first title defence, and it would prove to be his only one for the time being, as Sonsona wrested the belt from him via unanimous decision.
"It feels great to win," the battle scarred teen said after the 12-round war. "Lopez is a veteran fighter and a great champion. It's a great win for me."
Lopez was down early, but fought back valiantly to make it a fight.
“Yes, Lopez hurt me,” Sonsona admitted. “He’s a very good fighter…I really lost some strength in the eighth and ninth but in the 10th I regained it and wanted to go for the knockout.”
Promoter Allan Tremblay sees a rare magic, and earning potential, in Sonsona, and is planning to have him back to co-feature another Rumble At Rama event alongside Molitor, possibly in late November.
“We’ve have to regroup as a team, do what’s best for Marvin,” Tremblay noted. “Everybody is excited now so it would be best to keep it going.”
"We're going to look after this kid's future and take him to the very top of the sport.”
michael.talbot@citynews.rogers.com
MORE RESULTS:
Canadian heavyweight champ Greg Kielsa retained his title and maintained his perfect record after his fight with Kevin Montiy of the U.S. was declared a no-contest. Montiy was cut from an accidental headbutt and the action was stopped after just two rounds.
Canadian Stephan Boyd knocked out Pedro DeMeloin in a super middleweight bout.
Brampton welterweight Felix Mercedes defeated Toronto's Dan Caron.
Hamilton middleweight Justin Fountain earned a unanimous decision over Frankie Abbiw.
More Photos From The Card:
