Franck Petitjean had been scheduled to face Enoch Poulsen in a rematch for the European junior welterweight title in Paris on June 10. However, the defending champion has been forced to pull out due to injury.

It was decided by the EBU that Petitjean will instead face Samuel Molina on the same date and venue on a show promoted by Europrom. The winner will then face Poulsen one he has recovered at a later date.

Poulsen had claimed the vacant title last April in Copenhagen, Denmark by edging past his French opponent by hard fought but 12-round unanimous decision. It was decided that due to the closeness of the first fight a rematch was merited. Both sides tried several times ultimately in vain to make the fight happen and after several postponements the EBU decided the best course of action was to keep the title active and to allow Petitjean to face the highest available contender.

Petitjean (23-6-3, 6 knockouts) has been a professional since 2010. Although he lost a couple of fights, he was able to learn from them and move his career forward. The now 35-year-old southpaw won the French national title and moved into European class. Though came up short against Mohamed Mimoune (UD 12) and Poulsen (UD 12).

Molina (25-2, 11 KOs) has been very active since he turned professional in 2017. The 24-year-old Spanish fighter has won all 25 fights at home and like Petitjean has won his countries national title. He won that title by besting once-touted Jon Fernandez (UD 10). However, the twice Molina has fought outside Spain, he has come up short, losing to Artem Harutyunyan (TKO 5) and Francesco Patera (MD 10). He has won his last six fights and enters this contest in good form.

Interestingly, Molina has fought six times since Petitjean last fought.

This is Petitjean’s big opportunity, he has home advantage and if the ring rust – just one fight in four years – doesn’t hurt him, he’ll be favored to come out on top against his much younger rival.

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