Robbie Davies Edges Javier Molina, Ellie Scotney Defeats Cecilia Roman

Robbie Davies Jr produced a strong finish to edge a ten-round split decision over Javier Molina in their ten-round super-lightweight clash at the O2 Arena, London.

In a close fight, Molina produced all the highlights, hurting Davies as early as the first round, outboxing him at times and having him on the verge of defeat in the eighth. But the American always seemed to let Davies off the hook, as Davies came back each time to pressure Molina.

One judge, Howard Foster, made Molina a 97-94 winner, but the other two, Gustavo Padilla and Jan Christiansen, both scored it 96-94 for Davies, who did not seem that happy with the win.

“The rounds he won, he won them big, but all the other rounds I felt I grinded them out,” Davies said. “I worked harder, I was on the front foot, but it is what you like.

“I was not pleased with my performance because of how hard I trained. That’s probably why I was disappointed.”

Molina had success in the opening round who kept Davies at distance and stunned him, but from the second round onwards Davies put pressure on Molina, backing him into the ropes and forcing the Californian to work hard.

The American looked good when he moved, landing well with the jab and switching the attack to the body when he found room.

Molina made a fast start to the fifth round, landing a right hand and a left hook, before seeming to hurt Davies with a wide right hook that landed on the side of his head. But Molina was unable to press the advantage as Davies fired back in the second half of the round.

Davies, 32, started the sixth well, forcing Molina to try and fight his way off the ropes, although Molina did better in the seventh when he kept on the move, although as things got scrappy, he fell through the ropes after being pushed down by Davies.

Molina made a breakthrough in the eighth round, as the pair exchanged left hooks and Davies looked badly hurt, tottering around the ring, although Molina was unable again to follow up.

There was no urgency from Molina at the start of the ninth round, however, as Davies was allowed to recover. And in the final round it was Davies back on the front foot, putting pressure on Molina, although the American landed another clean left hook as Davies walked forward. Davies produced a good finish as a tired Molina fell to the floor twice. The referee was Bob Williams.

Ellie Scotney was too sharp and quick for Cecilia Roman, as she boxed her way into world title contention with a wide unanimous decision in their super-bantamweight ten-rounder.

Roman, 39, who lost the IBF bantamweight title to Ebanie Bridges in Leeds in March, could not cope with Scotney’s movement in and out. The Argentinian went on all-out attack in the fourth, but Scotney simply worked off the backfoot, and Scotney then loaded up on her punches in the sixth as she walked Roman into a string of punches, while the former world champion missed wildly.

From then on, Scotney cruised to victory, finding Roman easily with the left hook throughout.

Gustavo Padilla had it 100-90, Bob Williams and Jan Christiansen gave the former champion one round – 99-91. The referee was Howard Foster.

Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 – covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.