The Canelo Alvarez vs. Alfredo Angulo undercard may have taken a big hit upon news breaking that IBF junior middleweight strap holder Carlos Molina was arrested Thursday, mere days before he was set to make his first defense of the belt against Jermall Charlo.
Molina, who has openly called out Alvarez in the past and won the IBF title on the Alvarez vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. undercard was arrested on an outstanding warrant from 2007 in Wisconsin. The arrest stemmed from his failure to register in Wisconsin as a sex offender, and although he made bail his release was denied because he's also wanted by immigration officials.
He is unlikely to make weigh-in today, and might be stuck in Clark County Detention Center by the time the bell rings. "We're still working on getting him out of jail," promoter Leon Margules said. "There is an immigration hold on him and we're trying to figure everything out. I'm doing my best. Carlos just said, 'Get me out, I want to fight.'"
The sex offender charges are due to an incident which involved teenage girls. "In 2001, when he was 18 years old -- and I'm just learning all this this week -- he got arrested for statutory rape. She was 16 or 15, two teenagers," Margules said. "Not knowing how it would impact his life at all, he pled guilty to time served in Appleton, Wis., and did three years probation and never registered as a sex offender. That was what the warrant was for. I worked it out."
The immigration issues caught Margules off guard. "I thought he was a citizen. He was a permanent resident," Margules said. "I'm working on it. Do I think I'm getting him out? I have no idea," he said. "I thought I was getting him out (Thursday) morning. I'm trying to get to the bottom of what the actual issue is. The first time I heard the word 'immigration' was when he was bailing out of jail."
Molina was born in Mexico, but has lived stateside since the age of four, has children born in America, and had a "common law wife" for the past 11 years. His opponent Jermall Charlo is 17-0-0 with 13 knockouts. He is not to be confused for his twin brother Jermell, also undefeated.
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