Top-Ranked Junior Middleweight Molina Meets Frias on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights’ Season Finale

ESPN’s Friday Night Fights presented by Corona Extra will close out the 2012 season August 17 from Miami, Okla., when ESPN.com and The Ring Magazine’s No. 6 ranked Junior Middleweight “King” Carlos Molina (19-5-2, 6 KOs) meets Damian “Devo” Frias (19-4-1, 10 KOs) in the 10-round main event. Friday’s season finale will air at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2 HD, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN3. The card is presented by Warriors Boxing, Group Yvon Michel and Tony Holden Productions.

Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas will be ringside for ESPN2 HD and ESPN3 at the Buffalo Run Casino describing the action, while studio host Bernardo Osuna will present all the latest boxing news and highlights. Alex Pombo and Delvin Rodriguez will call the fights for ESPN Deportes’ Viernes de Combates (Friday Night Fights) with Leopoldo Gonzalez and Pablo Viruega in the studio.

ESPN Deportes will include highlights from the Mia St. John-Christy Martin fight for the WBC Light Middleweight title. Both fighters will retire after the fight. St. John will join ESPN Deportes live via satellite during the show.

Main Event:
Chicago’s Molina has given strong performances in his last four fights, including one of his career-best wins last July, against former Welterweight titlist Kermit Cintron.

“I’m going to go in there with the mindset like I usually do,” Molina said of Friday’s fight. “My mindset is always that no matter who I’m fighting, I train like I’m fighting a killer, the best guy out there – the strongest, the fastest, and the smartest. You just have to be ready for anything. I’m happy to get this fight, and hopefully I’ll land another big fight after this.”

Miami’s Frias is trained by former Middleweight titlist John David Jackson and has won his last three fights, including a ninth-round TKO over Henry Crawford.

“I’m going to be 100 percent for this fight,” Frias said. “I feel like I’m a more mature person inside and outside the ring. I think I’m a better fighter. I learned more from my losses than all my wins. Mentally, I think I’m better. I think I’m where I’m supposed to be.”

Co-Feature:
Friday’s co-feature will pit Super Middleweights Don “Da Bomb” George (22-2-1, 19 KOs) of Chicago against Dionisio Miranda (21-7-2, 18 K0s) of Colombia.