Adrien Broner and John Molina Jr. had a face-to-face confrontation even before their on-stage staredown at Thursday's press conference in advance of their fight Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Adrien Broner and John Molina Jr. engaged in some trash talk Thursday in Las Vegas.
"I'm going to beat him up and get the check," Broner said to Molina, who subsequently put his right arm around his opponent. "This is NBC, and I've got to give you a whipping. This fight ain't going the distance. I'm going to stop you. I'm going to make you quit. Either the corner is going to stop it or the ref is going to stop it."
Molina downplayed the exchange with Broner, who is seeking his third straight victory at 140 pounds in the debut of the Premier Boxing Champions series on NBC.
"I think he's still a little delirious right now," Molina said. "It ain't a big deal. This is all part of the show. If he thinks that he's getting into my head, then he's got another thing coming. It's psychological warfare at this point, but I believe that I'm the smarter one of the two, so I know how to handle this."
Broner (29-1, 22 KOs) reiterated his intentions during his turn at the podium.
"I am Mr. NBC. At the end of the day, everybody wants to see A.B.,” he said. “John Molina is a tough, world-class fighter. He wouldn't be in this position if he wasn't. He always beats the odds. Every time he was on the bad end of the stick, he somehow always comes out on top.
"But this is the time where he's going to stay on the bad end of the stick. He says it's going to be a dogfight, and we're ready for that. If he wants to sit in the ring and bang, we can sit in the ring and bang. … We're not going to run from John Molina. I'm stopping him, and I'll put my word on that.”
Molina (27-5, 22 KOs) has lost four of his last seven fights. However, he also scored impressive knockouts of Dannie Williams in January 2013 and previously undefeated Mickey Bey in July 2013.
“Bey is much more of a boxer-mover, and Broner is not. He's much more stationary,” said Molina’s trainer, Joe Goossen. “I think that Broner probably has a better punch, pound-for-pound, than Mickey Bey.
"Broner always stands in there. When has he ever moved? He'll come and get you and if you want to sit there in the pit. I hope he does that. I don't want to say that that plays into our hands, but John is better when you're not moving around."
