Jamal James Dominates Javier Molina in PBC on FS1 Main Event

The near-capacity crowd inside Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles witnessed a near-shutout in favor of one of boxing’s best welterweight prospects as Jamal James dominated former U.S. Olympian Javier Molina over 10 rounds. The duel headlined the latest edition of Premier Boxing Champions’ Toe-To-Toe Tuesdays event on Fox Sports 1 and James outclassed his smaller foe almost from the start.

Molina had a difficult time in getting past James’ long reach and accurate jab and as the rounds wore away, the Californian was relegated to loading up single power shots rather than setting up his offense with combos. “Shango” made it look easy during the latter stages of the battle as his jab and counter left hooks kept Molina away, save for a few scant rights to the head.

James needn’t take any chances late in the fight as his distance and movement gave Molina fits. Javier couldn’t get inside when he wanted and was force-fed a continuous helping of jabs round after round. James rocked his adversary in the eighth with a multi-punch combo upstairs, but Molina (17-2, 8 KOs) was able to escape the attrition and clear his head. In the end, neither man was felled and James coasted to a lopsided unanimous decision win, where he won via tallies of 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93.

Related » PBC on FS1 Round-by-Round Scoring

The victory was the biggest thus far in the Minnesotan’s career and it seems like a given that he’ll begin taking on even stiffer competition moving forward. While it might not have been the most aesthetically pleasing battle, James (19-0, 9 KOs) looked terrific.

Middleweight prospect Caleb Plant was able to remain unbeaten by stopping tough Spaniard Adasat Rodriguez late in the sixth round of their scheduled eight-rounder. Plant dazzled his foe with deft footwork and brilliant head movement, allowing the Nashville native to jab and counter the aggressive Rodriguez for the duration of the contest. Rodriguez continued to try and slug it out with the slick American, but Plant was too smooth and too accurate with his counters to allow it.

Finally, after slapping his foe with a flurry to the head and body, Plant drilled Rodriguez with a perfect counter left hook during an exchange, forcing Adasat to stumble into a corner. Plant charged in and landed two more lefts, prompting referee Thomas Taylor to stop it, though it seemed a bit premature. The official time of the TKO was 2:37 of the sixth, allowing Plant to ascend to 12-0 with his ninth pro knockout. Rodriguez dipped to 11-5-2 with 7 KOs. In a surprising turn of events, the middleweight swing bout between unbeaten Malcolm McCallister and Tyrone Selders started with a bang and ended in an explosion. It seemed as though McCallister was going to score a quick knockout when he dropped the Baton Rouge fighter with a flurry in the first. But Selders fought back and turned the duel into an all-out brawl.

The two men slugged it out toe-to-toe until the end and McCallister, a heavy favorite going in, had to dig deep, fight through a cut above his right eye and survive being rocked a few times to finally stop his foe in the third. A brutal combo to the body and head stiffened Selders along the ropes and the Long Beach native pounded away on a nearly-out Selders until referee Zachary Young had no choice but to stop the battle. The official time of the stoppage came at 2:39 of the third, allowing McCallister to rise to 7-0 with his seventh stoppage. Selders fell to 9-7-1 with 6 KOs.

In the opening bout of the telecast, those scattered throughout the arena witnessed a young super middleweight lion rip apart his foe like a hapless gazelle. Rising welterweight prospect David Benavidez looked spectacular yet again as he tore into Kevin Cobbs, scoring a thrilling knockout in the second. The Phoenix-based fighter was relentless with a vicious body attack, slamming his left hook into his opponent as soon as the fracas began.

Cobbs (10-2, 4 KOs) hung tough, but early in the second, a barrage of punches to the head and body rocked Cobbs. The Vermont native slumped into the ropes and covered up and eventually had to be saved by referee Raul Caiz Jr. Benavidez improved to 12-0 with his 11th professional knockout, the official stoppage coming at 1:08 of the second.