After appearing at the final prefight news conference Wednesday, welterweight John Molina withdrew from his bout with Sergey Lipinets on Thursday night because of a back problem.
“Very frustrated right now. My back went out last night,” Molina told ESPN in a text message Friday.
Molina was due to fight former junior welterweight world titleholder Lipinets in a 10-round bout between brawlers on the Manny Pacquiao-Keith Thurman Fox PPV card Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Sean Gibbons, president of Pacquiao’s MP Promotions and a co-promoter of the event, told ESPN that Jayar Inson, an MP Promotions fighter who was supposed to box journeyman Mahonri Montes on the undercard, accepted an offer to fill in for Molina and face Lipinets. Bob Bennett, the executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, told ESPN that Inson had been approved to face Lipinets.
“We received a call from PBC, and they asked if Jayar Inson would like to step up to take on Sergey Lipinets and we accepted, 100 percent. He’s looking forward to this opportunity,” Gibbons said. “He knows how to fight.”
Molina said his initial back issue happened three weeks ago and that it forced him to take a week off from training. He said his back went out again Thursday night while “keeping my body loose.”
Molina (30-8, 24 KOs), 36, of Covina, California, a former lightweight and junior welterweight world title challenger, was seeking to bounce back from a disputed decision loss to Omar Figueroa Jr. in February.
Inson (18-2, 12 KOs), 28, a southpaw from the Philippines, is coming off an eight-round split-decision loss to Jonathan Steele on Jan. 19 at the MGM Grand on the undercard of Pacquiao’s victory over Adrien Broner.
Lipinets (15-1, 11 KOs), 30, a Kazakhstan native fighting out of Los Angeles, is coming off a 10th-round knockout of former titlist Lamont Peterson on March 24 in a leading candidate for fight of the year.