Szpilka Comes Off Canvas Again To Finish Mollo and End His Career
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
Chicago, IL (August 17th, 2013)– Heavyweight Mike Mollo had the potential to be a world champion, but beyond a certain point, felt he had the wrong promoter. He wanted to get out of his contract with Boxing 360, leading to inactivity for years. The situation got worse with unbeaten Polish southpaw heavyweight Artur ‘The Pin’ Szpilka, now 16-0, 12 knockouts, Wieliczka, Poland. After knocking out Mollo earlier this year, Szpilka knocked out Taras Bidenko and outpointed Brian Minto, both significant wins speaking for Szpilka’s talent and durability.
Mollo had Szpilka down twice in their first match in February 2013, but still got knocked out in the sixth round at Chicago’s UIC Pavillion. In the rematch, on August 16, 2013 at Chicago’s Cellular Field, Mollo landed a desperation left hook which dropped Szpilka in the third round. For the third time, Mollo left Szpilka off the hook.
Szpilka moved around the edge of the ring, baiting Mollo’s straightforward style in. Szpilka outlanded Mollo all night to win rounds, especially with numerous power shots. Eventually Mollo, who kept getting hit, was going to fall for good, and did, beating the count but getting stopped at 1:41 of round five. Referee Gerald Scott, a late substitute ref for Celestino Ruiz (who refereed the first Szpilka-Mollo bout, whom the Mollo camp did not want) had no choice but to stop the bout with the bloody-faced Mollo out on his feet.
One still has to wonder if Mollo-like Chicago fighters David Estrada and Angel Hernandez before him-really lost these two bouts to Artur Szpilka due to contractual problems with Boxing 360 beforehand, and was not fighting with a clear mind. The truth hurts, and the truth is Mollo, like Hernandez and Estrada-wanted out of his contract from Boxing 360, because Boxing 360 was fighting its fighters on other people’s cards without its own venue. The facts never changed. It can be said Boxing 360 was up front about this at the very beginning, and offered its promoted fighters-including Mike Mollo-significant big fight opportunities. In fairness, some of these matchups were better than others. Mollo took some fights under the Boxing 360 banner, then just became inactive when he disagreed with the matches proposed. This led to Mollo winning only one bout in the last five years, inactive for the past three years, and seemingly an unhappy camper. Contractual disputes in boxing are not uncommon. Mollo, Oak Lawn, Illinois, falls to 20-5-1, 12 knockouts.
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