MANCHESTER, England (AP) Anthony Joshua has risen to the top of boxing's heavyweight division in serene fashion, with barely a clean punch landing on him in 17 straight professional wins.
For the British fighter, the real work starts now.
On Saturday, Joshua makes the second defense of his IBF title against a 34-year-old American with nothing to lose and a huge punch in his armory.
Everyone is in agreement: Eric Molina is a credible challenger and Joshua's most dangerous fight to date.
''We've specifically trained to land the knockout shot,'' Molina said Thursday. ''There's nothing else we've worked on, other than landing that shot.''
That one big punch wobbled fellow American Deontay Wilder in Molina's only other world title fight, in June last year in Alabama. Molina landed a clean left hook that shook the WBC champion in the third round, but couldn't follow it up and was knocked out in the ninth round.
For Molina, who has already lost three times in his career and knows this might be his last shot at the big time, it's all about getting that one chance.
''I think Anthony Joshua's at the point in his career where he needs to get tested,'' Molina, dressed sharply with a bow tie and a waistcoat, told The Associated Press in a Manchester hotel, two days before the fight in the northern English city. ''I think he's hitting that time of his career where he's going to have to start facing situations he hasn't faced before.''
Few are giving the 34-year-old Molina a chance against Joshua, heavyweight boxing's new big thing. Then again, Molina's life has revolved around dealing with adversity.
He has been playing catch-up in his boxing career since first putting on a pair of gloves in 2006, at age 23. A strong all-round sportsman, especially at baseball, the Texas native was studying at college and working in a restaurant when he gave boxing a try.
''He balanced work, studying and training all day and going into the night,'' Richard Molina, Eric's father, told the AP. ''He kept pushing for this dream.''
In an up-and-down career, Molina lost his first professional fight, won the next 18, was knocked out in the first round by Chris Arreola in 2012, won five more fights, and then got beaten by Wilder. Now he's back again after beating Poland's Tomasz Adamek in Krakow with a 10th-round knockout, earning Molina the vacant IBF inter-continental title after his first fight outside the United States.
When a high-profile fight between Joshua and Wladimir Klitchsko couldn't get arranged for various reasons in October, Joshua's team turned to Molina.
Away from the ring, Molina pursues another dream: teaching kids with special educational needs at a high school in Edinburg, Texas. He's juggled the two jobs - teaching and boxing - since 2012, although he hasn't worked at the school since last summer to fully focus on the Joshua fight.
''They have a couple of strikes against them in their lifetime already,'' Richard Molina said about his son's students, ''so he decided if he can help each one of them and make their lives better, that's what he does.
''It makes him unique (as a boxer). His humbleness will never fade.''
Not one for trash talk before fights, Molina nevertheless goaded Joshua by describing Wilder as ''the best heavyweight in the world right now.''
Joshua, with his chiseled physique and ferocious punching power, might have something to say about that, although there's a sense that he still has something to prove at the highest level.
A fight with Klitschko has already been sanctioned by the WBA for next year, but he said he will not be looking beyond Molina.
''People were asking me 12 months ago, 18 months ago, when you going to fight this guy and that guy,'' Joshua said. ''I said, `Give me 12, 18 months,' and that's now.
''Everyone is here because there is the potential of me taking a loss. That's the heavyweight division.''
Joshua, though, promised to ''make Eric look like a novice'' and it will be a big shock if the Briton loses in front of 21,000 spectators at Manchester Arena. Even Molina said he'll need to be ''lucky'' to win but believes his back-story gives him strength and hope.
''I want to stop time,'' Molina said. ''I want everyone to remember where they were when Molina knocked out Joshua and shocked the world.''
