U.S. Olympic Boxing Spotlight: Light Welterweight – Javier Molina

ByJim Everett

**With Slideshow**

© Jim Everett / Saddo Boxing

For Javier Molina, the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic boxing team, theentire experience has been a dream come true. From watching the Olympics as a child and being inspired by one of the 2000 Olympians, he could not be happier about his achievements.

“In 2000, when I first watched the Olympics, there was a guy from my gym, Francisco Bojado, who was on the Mexican team that worked out at my gym,” said Molina.

“I would always watch him fight and as a kid, I always dreamed that I was going to go to the Olympics. I would picture myself going, so when I actually made the team, it was a dream come true. I’m so excited about going, I can’t wait to walk in the opening ceremony and have my first fight there.”

For Molina, the road to the U.S. Olympic boxing team was not an easy one. During the Nationals to qualify in order to compete in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, he had recently been competing in the junior division and felt he wasn’t taken as a serious threat.

“I was seventeen at the time when I qualified,” he said. “I’m the youngest one on the team. Nobody even gave me a chance because I came out of the juniors and everyone looked at me like ‘this junior isn’t going to beat anybody’.”

“It was a long process for me,” said Molina. “I went to Tennessee to qualify and I lost, then I went to Cincinnati and I lost there as well. I finally went to Florida and qualified.”

In order for him to make the Olympic Trials, Molina had to make the quarter finals in the Nationals. “Right before the quarter finals, I fought Karl Dargan from Philadelphia, PA, who was the favorite to make the Olympic team at my weight of 141 pounds. Everyone had him as a favorite and I ended up beating him. After I beat him, I won the Nationals and went on to win all four fights in the Trials.”

Molina was born on January 2, 1990 and lives in Commerce, California. He began boxing at the age of seven in 1997 and is coached by Roberto Luna. His twin brother Oscar made the Mexican Olympic boxing team, but was not able to qualify internationally.

His career highlights include: National Champion, Junior Olympic National Champion and Cadet World Championship Bronze Medallist.

As are some of his teammates, Molina is not a fan of the residency program instilled by U.S. Head Coach Dan Campbell. “It’s been real tough, I’ve been away from home, and we’ve been staying at Colorado Springs and traveling a lot. I really didn’t like the idea of the residency program.

“I would have rather trained at home with my coach where I’m comfortable. They decided to do it this way; it’s the first year they have done the residency program in a while. They think it’s a good idea, but I would have rather been at home.”

“It’s tough working with a different coach,” said Molina. “I’ve been with my coach so long; I’ve been with him almost ten years. He knows my weaknesses and knows everything about me. Being away from home and my family, it’s a little tough.”

When asked what he hoped to take from his Olympic experience, Molina replied, “Just the experience of going, the opening ceremonies. When I was a little kid and I saw the opening ceremony, when the USA team was walking out, I would get chills watching them because I pictured myself walking out with them. Now that I’m actually going to walk out with them, it’s just a dream come true, I’m just going to enjoy every second of it.”

Although Molina is not a favorite to win a medal in Beijing, China, he has no doubts of his ability. “When I’m in the ring, I really believe in myself that I’m going to win the Gold Medal. It’s probably going to be the same thing that everybody thought I wasn’t going to make the Olympic team, but it’s going to be déjà vu again because nobody believes in me but I’m going to shock the whole world.”

Watch for the next U.S. Olympic Boxing Spotlight on Flyweight Rau’shee Warren