Olympians triumph on undercard

There weren’t any long looks, but the talent appears lasting.

Javier Molina and Shawn Estrada, both 2008 U.S. Olympians, joined John Molina, another young Southland boxer in promoter Dan Goossen’s stable of aspiring world champions, in knocking out their respective foes before the end of the second round Friday on the undercard of the first-ever boxing card at Nokia Theatre.

Estrada (3-0, three KOs) knocked down super-middleweight foe Ray Craig three times in the first 1 minute 41 seconds of the first round. Craig went down for good after Estrada slapped him on the side of the face with a quick left.

“I brought fear into the ring,” Estrada said. “I got him clean the first knockdown. . . . Who’d want to be in the ring with me? . . . I took his heart away.”

East Los Angeles’ Estrada then grabbed a ringside seat and cheered on the professional debut of Commerce welterweight Javier Molina, who knocked down Alhambra’s Jaime Cabrera in the second round with a strong right. After Cabrera got up in nine seconds, Estrada barked “Don’t wait, Javy!” to Molina. He didn’t, charging to deliver a devastating left uppercut that ended the fight at the 1:50 mark.

In between the Olympians, Covina’s John Molina (16-0, 12 KOs) shrugged off some first-round blows by the shorter but forward-surging Carlos Vinan (8-7-3). Molina answered with the more punishing punches, including a left uppercut-right-hand combination late in the first that hurt Vinan.

Vinan stayed upright in the junior-lightweight bout, but a steady diet of straight rights by Molina weakened the New Jersey fighter and the bout was stopped 2:40 into Round 2.

--

lance.pugmire@latimes.com