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"The
Canadian Kid"
Steve Molitor
first saw the light of day on
April 4 in 1980, when he was
born to parents of Puerto Rican
heritage in Sarnia, Ontario.
Inspired by his older brother
Jeremy, a successful
amateur-boxer, Steve picked up
the sport at age ten.
At the Lampton St. Clair Boxing
Club he was taught by
experienced trainer Silvio Fex,
and over ten years Steve
developed into a very good boxer
in the unpaid ranks, winning
five Canadian national titles
and Bronze at the Pan Am Games.
A Southpaw with a fine 93-11
amateur record, he decided to
turn professional and made his
debut on May 18, 2000 at the
Fort Garry Place in Winnipeg.
Impressively he started his paid
career winning a unanimous
decision after eight rounds over
experienced Mexican Julio Luna
(15-12-2).
He ventured south of the
Canadian border for his second
outing, stopping fellow prospect
Mark McQueen (1-0) in Detroit
two months later. In seven
months he put together seven
victories, so by the end of 2000
he was already starting to make
a name for himself on the
Canadian boxing scene.
In January of 2001, Molitor beat
the only opponent in his entire
career who entered their fight
with a negative record. In a
sport where up-and-comers are
often given “easy touches” at
the start, Molitor was always
matched well against opponents
who were able to give him a
fight.
Born in Canada but fighting out
of Los Angeles, two-time Golden
Gloves Champion Shane Langford
(0-1) was not an easy touch
either, and had done well in
losing his pro debut to Molitor
a few months earlier. He also
did well in the rematch, but
came up short on the scorecards
again.
On April 4, 2001, Molitor
stepped up the competition when
he out-boxed Dominican Champion
Silvio Luzon (12-6) to win a
unanimous decision in his first
twelve-rounder at the Royal York
Hotel in Toronto. Now 9-0 (2),
he was ready for his
break-through.
It would however be ten months
before he stepped in the ring
again, but when he did it was in
a true “passing of the torch”
fight against very popular
compatriot Scotty “The Bulldog”
Olson (34-3-2), a former IBO
World Flyweight Champion.
Olson had only lost to world
class opponents Jose Luis
Zepeda, Jorge Luis Roman and
Hall-of-Famer Michael Carbajal.
He had returned to the ring a
year earlier after a three year
break, but was by far the most
dangerous opponent of Molitor´s
career at that point, despite
the inactivity.
But Molitor was impressive
against Olson, flooring the
veteran former world champion
four times to win the vacant
Canadian Super Bantamweight
crown by fifth round stoppage in
the main event of a show at Shaw
Conference Center in Edmonton,
Olson's home turf, on February
15, 2002.
Dealing with Olson in such
spectacular fashion was a clear
indication that Molitor had
something special, so when an
opportunity to fight for the
vacant WBF World Bantamweight
title came along shortly after,
he jumped on it.
His opponent would be another
tough Dominican in Teofilo
Manzueta (13-4-1), a man who had
knocked out eleven of his
thirteen victims. He had every
intention of doing the same to
Molitor, whom he considered a
novice, on April 10, 2002.
At the Royal York Hotel in
Toronto, the same venue where he
performed so excellently against
Luzon a year earlier, Molitor
gave himself a late birthday
present six days after turning
twenty-two, when he stopped
Manzueta in three rounds to
become WBF World Champion.
Two months later Molitor stayed
busy with another impressive
victory, when he scored a
shut-out decision over former
WBA world title-challenger Jose
de Jesus Lopez (18-4) from
Venezuela.
The following September he won
the Commonwealth title by
beating Nicky Booth (15-3-1) in
England, and over the course of
the next three years he added
another nine wins to line up a
shot at the vacant IBF World
Super Bantamweight title.
On November 10, 2006, back in
England against home-town hero
Michael Hunter (26-0-1) in
Hartlepool, Molitor became a
two-time, two-division world
champion when he stunned the
local fans and won by fifth
round knockout.
Molitor made five successful
defenses of the IBF World title,
fending off challengers Takalani
Ndlovu (27-3), Narongrit Pirang
(57-8-1), Ricardo Castillo
(34-4), Fernando Beltran
(30-2-1) and Ceferino Dario
Labarda (18-0), before losing a
unification fight against WBA
titlist Celestino Caballero
(30-2) in November of 2008.
Three victories in 2009 put him
in line to regain the IBF world
title in 2010, and he did so by
defeating old foe Takalani
Ndlovu (30-5) by unanimous
decision in a fight for the
vacant belt on March 27 at
Casino Rama, in Ontario.
Six months after becoming a
three-time world champion,
Molitor defended against Jason
Booth (35-5) in England, edging
the Brit by majority decision.
Ndlovu got a third crack at
Molitor in March of 2011, and
this time finally emerged
victorious and relieved the
Canadian of his title.
Molitor had one more good
victory left in him, as he
closed out 2011 by besting
fellow countryman Sebastien
Gauthier (21-2) in Quebec City.
Ten months later, on September
22, 2012, he was stopped in six
rounds by the formidable Carl
Frampton (14-0) in Belfast,
which would turn out to be his
last fight.
Canadian Champion, Commonwealth
Champion, WBA-NABA Champion, WBF
World Bantamweight Champion and
two-time IBF World Super
Bantamweight Champion, Steve
Molitor retired with an
outstanding 34-3 (12) record.
In May of 2016 he was inducted
in the Ontario Boxing Hall of
Fame.
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