JOHN MOLINA TKO11 HANK LUNDY

The great Las Vegas oddsmaker Herb Lambeck frequently used the expression: “Talkers don’t win.” I thought of this as I watched Hank Lundy slump to defeat in the 11th round against John Molina in their lightweight bout on Friday Night Fights.
 
Lundy had been disparaging to the point of insulting when talking about Molina before the fight. Molina, he said, was  “dumb” fighter. Molina merely said he would let his fists do the talking, and so they did, although time was running out for the 27-year-old crowd-pleaser from Covina, CA.
 
For seven rounds, this looked almost like a mismatch. Lundy, a 26-year-old from Philadelphia, almost seemed to be playing with the strong but slow Molina as he moved around him and peppered him with punches, boxing in both the southpaw and orthodox positions.
 
At the end of the seventh, Lundy stuck out his tongue at Molina. He seemed to be having fun.
 
This pleasant state of affairs went badly wrong for Lundy in the eighth round, however. Perhaps he got too cocky, or simply lost concentration, but he gave Molina a chance to hit him on the chin — and a big right hand sent Lundy sprawling.
 
Although Lundy beat the count, the fight had turned. Molina was given fresh hope, and in the 11th round he caught up with a tiring Lundy and overpowered him with a barrage of punches on the ropes.
 
A fighter who hits as heavily as Molina always has a chance. He was hopelessly behind on the judges’ scorecards but after the eighth round it somehow seemed inevitable that he would catch Lundy again — and he did.