AIR DATE:
EPISODE: Episode 45
Steve Molitor (born April 4, 1980) is a Canadian former professional boxer who competed from 2000 to 2012 and held the IBF super-bantamweight title twice.
Watch The Scoop from Monday to Friday featuring Canadian heavyweight champ Bola Ray, who lends his vast experience in the sport and provides his comments and analysis on boxing, on YouTube and TalkinFight.com/live. #boxinghistory
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Podcast Episode
Transcribed:
Hello talking fight fans around the world, welcome once again to another episode of the scoop featuring champ bola ray, and this continuing series on great canadian fighters who want to explore fame and fortune on the international stage.
Who do you have for us tonight champ? Well, let me put it this way: um an argument, that’s still being fought in the courthouses across the land today, um is whether or not size is the determining factor in who wins a contest, a physical contest.
So, for the record, what in essence they’re saying is whoever is bigger, wins a contest, a physical contest.
Now the courts say yes, my guest today is living proof of the antithesis of this uh argument.
We’Re talking today with the two-time ibm world bantamweight champion um.
He has a heart just a little bit smaller than some caribbean islands um and who i affectionately, call an angry blade of grass he’s a good friend of mine, um and you’re gon na love him because he’s just an ass.
Who is he wait for it? My name is bola raymond olive walleye, and this is the scoop today we’re talking to none other than steve moliter, how you doing good.
How are you guys thanks for having me? No, it’s a pleasure’s mine, but what’s going on how you doing look at look at all that facial hair, it’s been a while it’s been a while since quarantine.
You know.
I start with this new beard i kind of like it now like um, i’m keeping it good for you.
It gives you that edge that you needed, like you ever so needed, yeah right, yeah, right man.
What’S going on how you been i’m good man um, i am a manager of a scrapbook, triple n meadow.
I work full time through all this cope and stuff.
I’Ve been, you know, staying busy with work, helping out with my kids, i’m actually in london at my ex-wife’s house.
I am once or twice a week i come down and spend the night with the kids, give her a break and um.
You know get to hang out with the kids and stuff like that, so good for you good for you, as we’ve seen my son set up this whole ordeal on the computer machine he’s destined for ibm or mac whatever, but still he’s uh.
It’S it’s geniuses like that.
That’S what makes the tomorrow so exciting, watch and see, watch and see um! You were.
You started off this game, this journey of boxing out of sarnia.
What made what what brought you to boxing um at the time? I was this young kid.
I just followed my older brother’s footsteps.
He had been in boxing a year and a half or two years prior to me.
He was already canadian champion, um, sorry yeah, sorry, news of hockey town though everyone played hockey, as did we growing up, we played hockey, but once my brother got into boxing, i followed his footsteps.
We excelled very quickly um to be an ontario and canadian champions and i just love the one-on-one competition.
I love the feeling of i mean i love hockey.
I love team sports.
Don’T get me wrong, but i like to be reliable for my own success.
Fair enough.
Fair enough, that’s um! I find a lot of people me included.
Uh started off with team sports, but i’m a sore loser if it’s because of somebody else, if i [ __ ] up so be it.
But if it’s somebody else on my team, let’s do it! Oh man, i lose my damn mind so yeah i hate losing regardless fyi.
Oh, i know.
Oh, i know your turn pro and i’ve had this conversation with quite a few people as to um.
I look even though you’re like eight years younger than me.
I look up to you um on a number of for a number of reasons, um, and it has nothing to do with the fact that you’re cricket size um, you, you embody uh work ethic like i’ve, never seen i’ve, never i’ve trained with a lot of greats.
Um canadian grades uh chris johnson uh, troy ross, edgar, marcus, all great all fantastic fighters and whatnot, but um when i, when we trained together, i saw you the the amount of work that you did.
Um, the tenacity and the drive that you did made me work harder and that that says a lot because i normally don’t give a uh or ask about anybody else in the gym, but me um, but i actually watched you.
You know, and i was like man you, you lit a fire but more importantly, you little fire at me.
But what likes the fire in you to train so tenaciously, as you did like it was almost as if whoever you had next on the other chopping block owed you money and you’re, looking to collect in a bad way um.
At the end of the day, it was made very simple for myself my own mind.
I just wanted to do whatever it took to to achieve what i, what i wanted to achieve, to become a world champion to become a two-time world champion to to you know, try to become a unified champion.
I knew that you know i mean it didn’t you know, numbers didn’t, impress me somehow.
You should run this amount of miles or this amount of rounds.
I just worked and worked and worked until i couldn’t work until i was just done and, like you know all my trainers chris johnson stepped on the roost, billy martin, they all were like steve.
You got to slow down, you got to slow down.
I remember one time there was a time when lennox was that adrian’s gym and he told me he’s like you know.
People say you can over train this and that he goes.
You know mike.
If you don’t get enough rest, if you don’t eat properly, don’t take care of your body.
That’S how you’re gon na become burnt out.
If you train hard every day of your life, you’ll be fine as long as you get the proper rest and take care of yourself and eat healthy you’ll be good and that’s the mindset.
I had um very very early, my professional career and i just was an animal.
I worked hard as an amateur, don’t get me wrong, but um when i moved to the gym and i lived at adrian’s, gym and adrian was a you know me.
May he rest in peace adrian i went to that gym at 19 years old, a boy and i left that gym at about 21-22 as a man that that place made me a man living at atlas gym near on uh, keelan wilson.
You remember that place.
I know it will and i’m glad you mentioned it, because i want you to actually tell people.
Where did you sleep, um, so long story short? I didn’t like the final decision at the amateur canadian nationals.
I felt they were ripped off so i said i said um i’m gon na turn pro, so i had nothing, no sort of titles.
I was canadian champion big deal, so i really had no credentials to like go to any major promoter or i was 112 pounds.
White boy from sarnia canadian champion like in the scheme of things, especially in american boxing, that’s [, __ ], all right, but my amateur coach, silvio was good friends with adrian teoda rescue from atlas boxing um and i called adrian it was yesterday.
If you can come stay here, he was training, chad, brisson and arthur cook at the time, and he goes – i can put you up here and you know i mean i’ll feed you and you just train and i’ll get you fights.
He goes well.
I mean there’s some other um like they’re, like oh yeah.
You know i mean other under the impression i was gon na get some sponsorship really quick and i’d be in an apartment, and i’m gon na have a car, but i lived in that gym.
For almost three years, i mobbed the floor on weekends to make some extra cash.
I worked at the bus boy at casey that took the subway and bus to work at yorktown mall as a bus boy, while training full time to become a professional fighter living in a little office above the gym adrian had two rings.
That was a beautiful gym on milford.
There yeah had two rings, but i lived in office upstairs and you know i mean, like you mean 19.
20 21, when your friends are in college, going to parties.
You know i mean girls, lifestyle osap, government money, i’m broke was a joke living in the [ __ ] gym.
You know what i mean, but i trained hard every single day, adrian made sure of it, and that was a major major turning point in my life.
That’S amazing and that actually does speak volumes as to what makes you a testament to the sport, because, if your, if your desire to be a champion, was greater than living in those conditions, what what could stop you, two and a half years – is sweet [, __, ] all to achieve your goals or to you know i mean to to climb the ladder you mean to get where you got to that’s nothing big deal.
That’S amazing um when you uh, when you fought for the world title the first time, so this is brand new to you.
What was going through your head? Well, when the bell rang or like going into the fight? No i’m talking, let’s start off by you, driving up to the arena in england yeah.
First of all, it was a small venue.
They only felt like 2 000 people, but on the [ __ ] outside there was another 2 000.
.
I could feel the intensity and, with the small building i could feel the uh the intensity in the dressing room like i said it was very, very small building, but in the end i’ll be honest, it didn’t shake me whatsoever already two two or three months prior To that, when i was supposed to fight for the world title in africa against, i was already like.
Listen, i don’t care who i’m fighting, i’m just gon na win, like doesn’t doesn’t matter who doesn’t matter i’m in africa and i beat you in your hometown in africa and i went to england.
It just didn’t matter that those that was a night where i just felt you mean invincible to loss.
That was that’s amazing and that’s because i knew all the sacrifice from even when i was nine years old, running before school training after school dieting missing parties.
All that stuff, all that had built to that one moment and there was no way no way you’re gon na, be robbed.
It wasn’t gon na happen and it didn’t happen.
Well done you have.
You then went on to have quite a few title defenses, and i like talking about this – i actually made mention of it in the monologue in my intro about how size means nothing.
Size is not the determining factor in physical altercation.
I i love the story.
I tell the story everywhere: i go um yeah.
This is the man hey.
We we’re one quick check.
Go ahead, you do the intro i’ll confirm.
Okay, this is the man 122.
.
I walked around about 135.
140.
.
Oh thousand pardons dangerous 135.
put a beating on a heavyweight professional boxer.
Correct me: if i’m wrong, it was nothing shy of a csi scene throughout that ring correct me.
If i’m wrong um, i sparred many many rounds in that in over my life.
I know exactly what you’re talking about, but i it’s not that i thought it was in my brain day-to-day until you called me the other day.
You tell me what the what do you say the ring uh, the ring apron looks like they look like a leopard speckled mat.
It was amazing.
I would i was not there.
I was not there.
I came the next day and asked coach chris johnson.
What happened? It looked like somebody you could have.
You could have said that this was the oj crime scene and i believed it.
There was just blood everywhere, and yet it was done in sport by you against a heavyweight, a heavyweight.
I think that’s incredible um.
I think that this is this needs to be put into case law in the canadian judicial process um every time they sit there and look at guys and be included and say, oh well, look at your size.
Yeah size means nothing and steve.
Mulder is the living proof of that at least you on my side of it.
Yes, yeah like ray – and you know even me, and you know me and you haven’t always seen eye to eye and everything and to me size, doesn’t really matter um.
Isn’T it? Is it an advantage for you absolutely? It is absolutely it’s an advantage, but i also have advantages precisely right, um and going back to that sparring session.
Um, i’m not gon na name any names, but yeah.
It was just somebody especially back in that time.
Right you were around.
You knew how competitive i was, and just and just the way that the the the gym was at chris’s.
It was um.
We had a lot of good fighters, a lot of talent.
Chris was a great great coach and there’s no phony [ __ ] around in our in our gym, and i didn’t like the way this one heavyweight was just you know.
I mean um talking out of line in my house, so to speak right.
Okay, so i was like yeah: let’s see i’m gon na, let’s get the rounds in and when i spar anybody, i don’t care who it is heavyweight or not.
I don’t ever want to hurt anybody ever in the sport of boxing, even in a fight.
I don’t wish harm upon anybody, but i’ll pick you apart i’ll, hear i’ll, hurt you, the body i’ll, hurt you to deliver i’ll hit you with a three and four piece and splatter blood everywhere to teach you a lesson: [ Laughter, ] that you did that you Did and but hey hey, hey, he could have very well [ __ ], threw a right hand and put me to sleep.
My argument isn’t that um one is better than the other as much as you cannot judge a book by its coverage.
They teach children this at the end of the day, just because someone’s bigger doesn’t mean that they’re gon na win the contest.
It’S all about what you know: that’s it what you’re capable of in here, but i just think that percentage-wise ray percentage-wise nine times out of ten or, let’s just say eight times out of ten, the bigger guy’s gon na thump, the little guy sure.
But the thing is eight times out of ten, both guys don’t know how to fight agreed right agreed.
It’S again.
It’S all a question of what you know as far as i’m concerned, and i’m just glad that i i’m able to actually talk to you.
The the major component within that contest for boxing but hey, it’s also not fair.
I grew up as a one, a little brother always just trying to chase and get out of the shadow.
My big brother, she was always the smallest guy in the team, always just being like.
Hey rub rubber um.
You know i mean like with the [ __ ], with the big boys um i’ve been always trying to.
I mean size up to those guys and when i was where i got the same way, you’re around you see the way we had chris and jim.
Everyone was always respectful of of everyone.
We produce massive or uh super good fighters, sammy vargas sold to rainey myself, and the list goes on and on with chris, we had uh one of the greatest gyms of all time during that little four or five years in ontario history.
I’D have to agree.
He was um well, chris, is, you know, he’s he’s arguably one of the greatest um well, i think i personally think he’s he’s.
Arguably the greatest of coach right now, um out there in ontario, he’s he’s sure right, yeah um, but a part of it.
A great part of it is also, he actually teaches a lot of these young cats to be a better human being.
That’S what you’re talking about having a respectful environment when you’re when you’re training, so i totally get that i totally get that you fought.
You did well to say the least um and the decision to actually end your boxing career came from what um losses.
Obviously i i losing was the worst [ __ ] thing of my life.
I lost two of my last three fights.
I was 31 32 years old um.
I went hard from when i was like nine years old.
I i bought from nine to 31.
Whatever hard i didn’t, have many breaks um i trained very hard.
My body was tired.
I felt slow, i didn’t have the hunger and when you go from making you know when i fought when i lost my world title in south africa for 240 000 and then you go back to montreal and fight for 30 000, and you know you train the Same basically, it’s kind of like what the like you know, yeah.
So now you know i mean people say that people people lie and say: oh money’s, not everything blah blah blah fight for free.
Then it might be if all these guys say, [ __ ].
Oh money’s, not me, i do it for the love of the sport, [, __, ] and fight for free, no pay-per-view.
Just you know.
Do it for free.
If you love this board that much do it for free there, you go, i’m i i’m just telling the truth.
I just keep it real.
I have no problems.
I love boxing.
I love the flight.
I love to be competitive.
I love to win, but yeah money is important attacker would you have fought for for no money? This is this is nothing uncommon.
What’S we call it? Um samuel peter uh won the world title when he won the world title.
He fought uh vitaly klitschko for four million dollars his next fight.
After that loss he got paid forty thousand dollars.
How do you, how do you roll out of bed yeah? Well, how do you do it? Listen to me if you got four mil for one fight.
I’D swallow the [ __ ] 40 and get climb that ladder back to the four again right.
So daniel peter looks like a lazy guy, i mean to me he was uh.
He was so he was a beast when he was ready, but i don’t know i yeah.
That’S that’s a lot for your for someone’s psyche, though that genuinely is a lot yeah.
What do you do, but you um when you fought in montreal and it was all done my last fight was in montreal.
It wasn’t my job.
What was it my last fight was so then i went monster on i won for 30 000.
Then i went my last fight against um carl frampton in england, yeah, okay, okay um! After that, did you have a plan for life after boxing um? You mean i was you know united.
I had a good life.
I was smarter with my money to put someone away from my kids me and my wife had her.
I had a nice custom-built house of woodstock um.
Unfortunately, we got divorced and you know i mean you get divorced.
It’S expensive yeah.
We know so after i had a couple years off and i had to spend like when, when i first retired i spent like two years with just me, my wife and the kids had our house in woodstock and we ended up getting divorced.
I started working at triple m alan tremblay greatest promoter of all time.
You know that he fought many of his cards yep.
You know i mean they made sure i was smart with my money and they always made sure that you know me.
There was a fallback plan for me and they and they held true to that and i started tripling you know i mean i started at the very very bottom and i’ve been there for almost 10 years now i’ve worked my way to operations manager.
I love that job, and so, if you have the right people behind you, i think it’s very important to do that, and that’s a big thing that i tell these young fighters is listen, especially guys who aren’t gon na who aren’t gon na make it.
I mean like hey, always: have a plan b, have a fall back.
I’D like to hear these guys say: oh stevie, i’m working in the union, or i’m doing this, i’m doing that.
I’D love to hear that guys have a plan because you know as well as i do right, there’s tons of guys in the industry that don’t have a plan and how many guys are in jail or on drugs or in some sort of trouble.
Because there’s no fallback plan, everyone was just living in the fantasy world.
I’M going to be i’m going to be the next millionaire like.
I don’t got to worry about that right.
Yeah! That’S! I think that’s something that i mean that i always try to tell people that are close to even my friends who are doing well and making money always like you know, be smart with your money.
Put it away, don’t don’t be frivolous and spend stupid money on stupid things like you, don’t need the gucci [ __ ], you know, invest it be smart.
You know what i mean because, like mike tyson said on how he lost his money – and i was thankful when you fight, you know they just say: hey good fight, there’s your check, nope like no.
No tax is taken off nope, no [, __ ], all right.
So how many guys be like? Yes, i can just i can get the new s played.
Yes, perfect poof, you know what and then reality yeah i mean and again i’m thankful for uh alan tremblay and james jardine at the time in u.
s traffic, they’re, very smart with me, um taking care of me.
So that was awesome.
They um they were.
They were a great influence in a lot of boxers lives actually um, but it’s rare to see guys like that like who would step up and actually give care about.
You only hear it do.
You want to hear how i went down so james jardine and his company.
Us traffic were a major piece of the puzzle.
I was living at the gym and james jardine came in [ __ ] dodge viper.
I was like holy holy [ __ ], a dodge viper.
You have two of them: yeah snake, skin shoes, the whole i mean smoking hot chick.
The whole kitten kabuto is like, oh, my god, so he comes to watch me spar and obviously i just i knew who he was and i knew why he was there because he had sponsored billy erwin prior and told me.
He was there to watch me so that sparring partner did not have a very good day um, so they put a logo on my shorts for a thousand dollars a month.
That’S what got me out of the gym or got me out of living out of the gym, so i took a thousand dollar check and i uh i got to rent a one bedroom apartment where i could hear mice eating my dog food at night, [ __, ] but hey i had my own place.
I was happy.
I was happy um just down the street yeah they jumped on board.
They gave me a thousand dollars a month and then about a year later, they’re like listen, stevie.
We kind of want to come manage your career.
More adrian was my manager at the time they’re like we want to buy you out of your contract with adrian and us traffic then stepped up the sponsorship tour.
I was getting four thousand dollars on the.
I was getting four thousand dollars a month, full benefits um.
So i got to train full time with no worries.
What so ever, oh stevie, your eyes.
Aren’T you have uh shitty eyes we’re gon na get you lasik surgery, whoa um, they’re, a major piece to give me the freedom to bust my ass 24 7, to get where i got to a major piece, as was my amateur coach, silvio facts, as was adrian’s Hit arrest you, as was chris johnson, billy martin’s, that followers and every other state strength, condition coach.
Everybody was a piece of the puzzle, but yeah u.
s traffic gave me a lot of freedom and a lot of opportunity to uh to get there you’re fortunate.
That way i was fortunate, but at the end of the day i started to get in there and travel another man’s home country, undefeated, they’re, still still incredibly fortunate yeah.
That doesn’t happen massively.
I agree, like i say: i’m thankful every day, i’m still in contact with with everybody who’s a part of it.
I’M super grateful for what they’ve done for me awesome and yeah.
We had a good time at raymond.
You know you were there yeah one thing i would like to see, but i don’t well i’d like to see who might say um you had a wealth of knowledge.
Like one thing, i liked about your game was you you didn’t rely on power as much as you’re, just smart.
You, you wore guys down um they like you.
They you love them.
You love the body, it’s assault.
You have a wealth of knowledge.
Why didn’t you go the way of coaching or did you um? I always helped out when i was with chris at the gym yeah i saw that um and even after boxing you mean i like to always help.
Oh and i’ve helped them at some gyms here locally um, but you mean i got two kids.
I have a full-time job and i and i do go help out at some gyms but boxing’s just so different.
Now than the way it used to be um.
[, Music ], i don’t know it’s just.
I think it’s a lot different.
The way it needs to be like you remember back in the days when we were at the gym and the way we were so spar and the way we used to work, and you know, i think that everything everything’s got to be watered down.
You have to be sensitive with kids like training somebody to fight yeah.
It’S it’s the day and age like you have to give participation, uh ribbons all over the place.
Yeah i get it, but um yeah.
You have like a wealth i was brought up.
I was brought up in a way difficult, oh yeah, when i was a young young kid i mean, but back when i was with you know, mike strange and those boys traveling to ireland and and stuff like that, and that training camps up in zelda and sudbury With the national team and stuff like that and the work ethic and the stuff that adrian used to put us through yeah, they built men, it really did, but it doesn’t mean that you don’t have like.
Like.
I said you there’s a there’s, a wealth of knowledge that you could uh pass on to the next generation absolutely, and i and i have coached a few guys um.
But again, i think a lot of it comes down to my commitment.
I coached uh mark palawan bay when he was fighting pro there.
I coached him for a few fights and i do i love boxing.
I still watch every fight i diagnose fights.
I watch all the pre-fight stuff.
I love boxing still every day, um.
Okay, i just don’t think it’s i don’t know in the event the scenario presented itself where it was financial, financially feasible for you to actually continue on living the life you’re living, if not better, but as a coach.
There’S no question about.
I love boxing.
I love boxing.
That’S all i’ve ever known, like even um.
When i used to live at the gym, it was either romanian tv because that’s all that was coming down to the tv and then where i used to watch tv at night.
I had to watch what adrian and then were watching, which was remaining tv, or he had some bhs cassettes of old fights, no training.
Videos like i remember you should just watch as i just watched boxing.
All the time.
Training videos fights amateur pros.
Cubans adrian was super smart, you know yeah where he coached lennox lewis, olympic gold medal and his po.
His coaching pedigree was massive yep and we’d sit and we’d watch videos as well and he’d help me.
He passed on so much knowledge to me about everything, and then he had guys like edgarton marcus around that would be around donovan boucher.
This is the wealth of knowledge i gained during those times was just even lennox.
Came there to see me and talk to me like that little small pocket was a major turning point for where i wanted to go so you’re, not completely closing the curtain on your boxing uh career on my career as a fighter is over yeah fair enough.
Are you saying i might come back as a coach, exactly yeah? I would good to know good to know.
It’S got to be somebody who’s who’s willing to all or nothing yeah.
I i can see it, but the the bottom line still remains.
Is that you haven’t closed your uh closed your mind, to uh continue on participating in the sport of boxing abs, absolutely not yeah, and that’s great steve thanks for coming out today.
Thank you for having me ray.
This was great.
This was great and uh.
You know.
I wish you all the best.
Much love thanks buddy, take care, cheers cheers now.
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