The 34 year-old previously lost out to Deontay Wilder when attempting to win the WBC belt in June 2015 and Molina says he was able to last nine rounds with the big-puncher despite being injured.
“I’ve been in these fights before. I have no amateur experience so I’m learning no the job — and I’m getting better every fight. I fought five rounds against Wilder with a busted ankle, so everything you saw from me was done on one ankle. That’s the kind of guy this young man is facing. I fight with everything I’ve got. Even if I’m hurt, I still fight, because I know that one punch at any given moment can win me the fight. Anything can happen in the heavyweight division,” said Molina.
“I knew this fight was coming my way because nobody wants to fight him. Let’s be real. All the other fighters want to go and fight other guys and for the other belts and not face Anthony Joshua. I’m a guy that’s been in with Wilder – no one wants to fight Wilder, but I did, and that’s why I will be in Manchester on Dec. 10 putting it all on the line, body and soul. I want that IBF belt, I don’t have the option to go for another belt or down another route. This is it for me, and that means he’s going to have the toughest fight of his career, I can guarantee that.
“Tomasz Adamek had never been KO’d, so the momentum from that win in Poland was big. I felt it was time to take time off from work and put 100 percent into this.
“Back home, people know me as a certain type of fighter. On day one of my career I lost in the first round and that’s why on the back of my shirt it says ‘The Art Of Bouncing Back.’ Those aren’t just words. Boxing is the most brutal sport when it comes to trying to bounce back. Once you lose, everybody is gone from your side. There are fighters out there that say they want to bounce back but they don’t have the guts to put themselves in a position to do it. I put myself in the fight with Wilder and I went to Poland and beat Adamek to bounce back and show people who I am.
“You have to prove yourself in this sport and then you can claim the rewards. I didn’t have an easy road to get here, I’ve had to do it the hard way and I’ve earned my way here,” he added.
