Molina wins in 34 seconds

Covina’s John Molina jokes that his attention deficit disorder helps his boxing.

Thirty-four seconds into his lightweight bout against Mexico’s Efren Hinojosa, Molina was already thinking about something else, like, “Next?”

Molina, one of the top prospects in the stable of San Fernando Valley promoter Dan Goossen, stayed perfect (18-0, 14 knockouts) by quickly attacking Hinojosa and delivering a thundering right-handed shot to the liver area and a strong left uppercut to the jaw that left Hinojosa floored for good, as referee Tony Krebs stopped the bout.

“I went after him,” Molina said afterward. “I think I broke his rib . . . once I saw that look in his eyes, I went after him and he was done. Believe me, I hit him with some good shots.”

Molina’s performance at Staples Center highlighted an otherwise lackluster undercard to Saturday night’s world heavyweight championship of Vitali Klitschko versus Riverside’s Cris Arreola.

In a heavyweight bout before the main event, Detroit’s Jonathan Banks (22-1) landed enough big punches to defeat Anaheim’s Javier Mora (22-5-1) by majority decision judged by Dr. James Jen Kin (79-73), Raul Caiz Sr. (78-74) and Marty Denkin (76-76).

Mexico’s Salvador Sanchez, the nephew of the country’s legendary late featherweight champion, dropped countryman Trinidad Mendoza with powerful body shots at the 1:23 mark of the third round, improving to 14-3-2 with eight knockouts. Sanchez rocked Mendoza (28-25-2) earlier in the third with impressive combinations, then squeezed in a left to the head.

In the night’s first bout, heavyweight Cisse Salif was ordered to tape down his whipping dreadlocks as he fought Atlanta’s Cedric Boswell. It mattered little. Boswell won every round on the judge’s scorecards and improved to 31-1.

Pico Rivera featherweight Rico Ramos (13-0) rattled Kermin Guardia in their six-round bout, winning a unanimous decision.

-- Lance Pugmire