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Junior welterweight John Molina Jr. was issued a temporary suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission at the panel's monthly meeting Tuesday for a failed drug test following his lopsided decision loss to Adrien Broner on March 7 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Broner pitched a near-shutout in the 12-round bout, which opened the inaugural "Premier Boxing Champions" card in boxing's return to prime time on NBC. After the fight, Molina tested positive for a banned diuretic, which is typically used to assist in weight loss or to mask performance-enhancing drug use. After the meeting, Molina reacted to the news of the suspension in disbelief on Twitter: The loss to Broner was Molina's third in a row. He also lost a 10-round decision to former lightweight and junior lightweight titlist Humberto Soto in September and was knocked out by Lucas Matthysse in the 11th round last April in a sensational brawl that was voted the 2014 fight of the year by the Boxing Writers Association of America. Molina's suspension comes just a few days before the BWAA will hand out the awards at its annual dinner Friday night in New York. Molina (27-6, 22 KOs), 32, of Covina, California, is entitled to a hearing in front of the commission. Unless he can prove there was an issue with the test, the commission likely will suspend him for at least nine months from the date of the fight as well as fine him a portion of his $450,000 purse.
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