Marlon Starling vs. Tomás Molinares

Double Trouble: Starling vs. Molinares

Date	July 29, 1988
Venue	Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Title(s) on the line	WBA welterweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer Marlon Starling Tomás Molinares Nickname The Magic Man Moli Hometown Hartford, Connecticut, U.S. Cartagena, Bolívar, Colombia Pre-fight record 43–4–1 (26 KO) 23–0 (20 KO) Age 28 years, 11 months 23 years, 3 months Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) Weight 147 lb (67 kg) 147 lb (67 kg) Style Orthodox Orthodox Recognition WBA Welterweight Champion WBA No. 1 Ranked Welterweight
Result
No contest Originally 5th-round KO for Molinares, changed to a no contest after it was deemed that the punch Molinares had knocked out Starling with was thrown after the bell

Marlon Starling vs. Tomás Molinares was a professional boxing match contested on July 29, 1988, for the WBA welterweight title. The fight was part of a doubleheader event billed as Double Trouble.

Background

In what was billed as a precursor to a unification match between the two, Marlon Starling, the WBA's welterweight champion, and Lloyd Honeyghan, who held the WBC's version of the title, would participate in a doubleheader event broadcast on HBO World Championship Boxing in which they would each make title defenses against their respective mandatory challengers. Starling would defend his title against the WBA's number-one ranked contender, Tomás Molinares, while Honeyghan would face Yung-Kil Jung, the WBC's number-one ranked welterweight contender. Should they each win, Starling and Honeyghan were then planned to face each other with a tentative date scheduled for late in the year in November.

The Fight

Starling got off to a slow start, losing the first two rounds to Molinares on all three official scorecards. Starling, however, took control in the third round and would win that round and the subsequent two rounds after. However, the fight would come to a sudden end at the end of the sixth round. Starling and Molinares were engaged in close quarters at the end of the round when just as the bell rang to signify the end of the round, Molinares hit a big roundhouse right that dropped Starling to the canvas. Starling made no attempt to get back up as referee Joe Cortez counted to 10. As it was unknown at the time if the punch was landed before or after the bell, there was a three minute delay before Molinares was finally declared the winner by knockout.

Aftermath

I wasn't knocked out! I wasn't knocked down!

Starling during his post-fight interview with Larry Merchant

In the immediate aftermath, HBO commentator Larry Merchant interviewed Cortez, who explained that he felt that Molinares was in the process of throwing the punch as the bell rang, thus deeming it legal. Cortez was backed up by New Jersey State Athletic Control Board head Larry Hazzard who at the time agreed with Cortez's assessment, though he admitted later that the punch may have in fact landed "a fraction of a second after the bell". Merchant also memorably interviewed a confused Starling, oblivious to the fact that he had been knocked out and now sporting a sprained ankle, who claimed he had neither been knocked down or out and, despite being unable to stand, felt he could "go another round."

Two weeks after the fight, Hazzard did an about face and nullified Molinares' victory, instead declaring the bout a no contest. Hazzard stated that he made the decision because a "single bizarre incident like this should not be the determining factor of a fight" though he maintained that Cortez was not at fault and had "made a ruling based upon his observation and judgment." Though Molinares' victory was voided, it was up to the WBA to either return the belt to Starling or continue to recognize Molinares as their welterweight champion. The day after Hazzard's decision to void the contest, the WBA announced that it would in fact continue to recognized Molinares as champion.

In spite of Starling having lost his title, he and Honeyghan nevertheless proceeded with their anticipated fight, which was officially announced in early January 1989 to take place the following month on February 4th. Just weeks before the Starling–Honeyghan was made official, it was announced that Molinares would make the first defense of his WBA welterweight title against former WBA welterweight champion Mark Breland on the undercard. However, only days after the doubleheader event was announced, Molinares pulled out of his fight with Breland and vacated the title with his manager citing "severe mental depression" as the reason for him doing so. This gave Molinares the rare distinction of being a world champion despite having never defended the title he held nor officially winning a title fight in the first place.

Fight card

Confirmed bouts:

Weight Class	Weight		vs.		Method	Round	Notes
Welterweight	147 lbs.	Marlon Starling (c)	vs.	Tomás Molinares	NC	6/12	Note 1
Welterweight	147 lbs.	Lloyd Honeyghan (c)	def.	Yung-Kil Jung	TKO	5/12	Note 2
Super Lightweight	140 lbs.	Rafael Pineda	def.	Juan Minaya	KO	5/8
Middleweight	160 lbs.	Rod Douglas	def.	Lester Yarbrough	UD	8/8
Middleweight	160 lbs.	Willie Monroe	def.	Richard Holloway	TKO	2/6

^Note 1 For WBA Welterweight title
^Note 2 For WBC Welterweight title

Broadcasting

Country	Broadcaster
United States	HBO