Lightweight Molina 'A Dominating Force'

Five-, three-, two-, two-, and, one.

The decreasing number of rounds within which it has taken John Molina (18-0) to dispatch his last five opponents is as undeniable as it is impressive.

"I can see the progression. I saw, in myself, a more well-rounded fighter in my last fight -- even though it lasted only 34 seconds. That's how much we're on my game right now," said Molina, referring to September's first-round knockout of Efren Hinojosa.

"I notice more where my hands are. I notice certain leverage points. I notice certain punches that I'm using to take a guy out of there. I'm not content or satisfied with where I'm at," said Molina, 26. "I want to get to the top, and I believe that I possess the power and the strength to be a dominating force within the weight division."

The fact that Hinojosa went down from a body shot made the victory even sweeter.

"It's very rewarding to be able to get a guy out of there with a body shot. Body shot knockouts speak very highly of my power. That's something that we've been working on," said Molina.

"The way that you can paralyze a guy to the body, sometimes I think it does more damage than a shot to the head," said Molina. "If you do it right, a lot of times, it's going to take more than two or three minutes for the guy to get up."

Molina will go after his 15th knockout, and the sixth in his past seven fights when he takes on 29-year-old Martin Honorio (26-4-1, 14 knockouts) of Mexico City on Saturday night as they compete for the NABF lightweight (135 pounds) title at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif.

"An NABF title fight, that's a step in the right direction for me. It's going to be a good showcase for me. It's going to let everyone know that I've arrived in the weight division," said Molina, who will be the headliner for the first time in a Showtime-televised main event.

"Honorio is an older guy, and a rangy guy who has been in there with the best, and he's shown that he can beat the best. But like I said, we've prepared really well for the fight, so I don't anticipate anybody doing anything different that I haven't seen yet," said Molina.

"Of course, I'm looking at a world championship. That's the ultimate goal," said Molina, "and we're not going to stop until we get there. We're going all the way to the top with the upper eschelon fighters."

Honorio rebounded from a first-round knockout loss to IBF super featherweight (130 pounds) champion, Robert Guerrero, by stopping his last two opponents -- including a fifth-round KO of Frank Archuleta, whom Molina stopped in two rounds.

"Styles make fights, so you can't really judge off the fact that he fought that guy or you fought this guy," said Molina.

"Otherwise, look at the fact that I stopped Efren Hinojosa in 34 seconds, and he went eight rounds and gave Robert Guerrero all that he wanted before being stopped. Now does that say that I'm better than Guerrero?" said Molina. "As a boxing analyst, you have to go back and decide that. But on Nov. 28, we're going to prepare for Hinorio as if he was Godzilla."

Molina will, indeed, be ready for the monsters of the division with a sensational win, said his promoter, Dan Goossen.

"This next fight is what cements John Molina's progress and his young legacy. We'll have the opportunity to see whether he's consistent, and if he he has the ability to continue to demonstrate to us the knockout power that he's been showing," said Goossen, whose brother, Joe, trains Molina.

"John is young, he's exciting, and he's an aggressive and up-and-coming fighter, but he'll have his hands full with Honorio," said Goossen. "It's his main event debut. Every fighter has that defining fight to get to the next level, and this is one of those fights for John Molina."