IBF Super Bantamweight Champion Steve Molitor puts his belt at risk for second time when he meets experienced Thai fighter Fashan 3K Battery at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario, Canada on an Allan Tremblay/Orion Sports promotion.
Southpaw Molitor, 24-0 (10), burst onto the world scene with a big win over previously unbeaten European Champion Michael Hunter, knocking out the pressure fighter in the fifth in Hunter’s hometown of Hartlepool, England to annex the vacant IBF title in November of last year.
“The Canadian Kid” further cemented his standing as an elite level fighter by stopping South Africa’s tough IBO Champion, Takalani Ndlov this past July in an impressive performance.
Now Molitor must once again display his skills against an experienced opponent in the form of Thailand’s Narongrit Pirang, better know as Fashan 3K Battery, 58-8-1 (35), who comes to Canada with every intention of taking Molitor’s IBF crown.
The Bangkok based southpaw is a longtime IBF Pan Pacific Champion and has only been stopped once in his career, when he ran into pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao during a IBF title eliminator for the #2 spot in 2004.
Molitor has stopped his last four opponents but faces a tough test in the form of 3K Battery. But if the 27 year old from the Toronto suburb of Mississaugua by way of Sarnia, Ontario is to gain lucrative unification fights with his fellow world title holders, he must handle the wily Thai in exemplary fashion tonight at Casino Rama.
Also on the bill will be Brampton based featherweight Martin Lindsay, 8-0 (3), who meets Mexico’s Uriel Barrera, 12-1 (6), for the IBF Youth title.
Middleweight Paul Clavette, 11-1 (2), sees action against Shawn Garnett, 11-4-1 (3), and heavyweight Raymond Olubowale, 5-1-1 (3), faces veteran Demetrice King, 13-15 (11).