Friday, Mar. 26
March 26, 2010
Cajun Farmers Market asset to Houma’s economy; city looking to expand to downtown
March 30, 2010
At age 6, Grand Bois native Roland “Jay Paul” Molinere III was destined to be a boxer.
“Growing up, we boxed everyday,” Jay Paul said. “To us, boxing was like soccer is around the world. We had gloves on in the back yard – gloves that were probably bigger than our arms.”
But by age 10, everything changed.
Spending time at a camp with his family during the Fourth of July holiday, Molinere III was hit by a malfunctioned jet ski, which smashed him between the ski and a bass boat, leaving him with a 6-to-8 inch fracture in his skull. The injury put the pre-teen in a coma for three days and doctors didn’t know if he’d ever talk again – much less box.
“I had to go through therapy for two years. I had speech problems and I wasn’t supposed to function right,” Jay Paul said. “According to the doctors, I was a miracle. A walking miracle. I wasn’t supposed to be doing the things that I’m doing now. That’s for sure.”
But despite the extensive recovery, Jay Paul said he always knew he would prove everyone wrong and would fully recover from his injury.
“In my mind, I always knew I was going to get back at it,” he said. “I’m not a quitter. If I have something in my head, I am going to do it. There was some doubt there for a while that I’d never be able to do anything again, but I tried. That’s one thing about me – I always try.”
Jay Paul’s trying has paid off as he has beaten the odds and has gotten back into the ring with undoubted success. The local recently was one of nine people to win a gold medal and a $2,000 scholarship by the Columbus Rotary for boxing excellence at the Arnold Sports Festival hosted by California governor and famous movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“Man that whole week was such a thrill for me,” Jay Paul said. “I met Arnold, Sylvester Stallone, Forrest Griffin, Buster Douglas. It was great to meet those celebrities, but to fight in front of them, wow, that was something else.”
Immediately after his recovery from the accident, the first sport the Grand Bois native tackled was football.
He was a member of South Terrebonne High School’s football team for four seasons, where he excelled as a defensive back.
His father, Roland Molinere Jr., said he was never a teenager that found trouble, but focused on other things.
“He was different, because he never really liked to party or go out and drink,” Molinere Jr. said. “He just wanted to do things right. He hung out with me a lot and I think he learned a lot of things because he was around me. I am his friend and his daddy.”
But after entertaining offers from Nicholls State and Louisiana Tech, he decided to trade the helmet and pads for gloves and tights and get back in the ring.
“He told me, ‘Daddy, I’m good at football, but it’s hard for me, but boxing is easy. It just comes to me,'” Molinere Jr. said. “And I can see that. He’s a natural.”
So far, he’s proven his father’s proclamation to be true as has more than 40 fights. Jay Paul also has found success in mixed martial arts, where he is unbeaten in five fights with all of the victories coming by way of a first round knockout.
“I’d consider myself to be a balanced fighter,” he said. “I can brawl if they want to brawl. I can scrap if they want to scrap. I can do whatever it is they throw at me.”
Jay Paul will scrap with the best of them this weekend at the Louisiana Golden Gloves competition.
He said that event will be a big one to continue the success he build at the Arnold’s.
“We’ve been working hard almost everyday for that one,” he said. “That’s a huge weekend for us.”
Jay Paul is currently pursuing an anesthesiology degree at Fletcher Technical Community College. But make no mistake about it; he has plans of continuing in the ring – hopefully at bigger venues.
The local has Olympic aspirations and is eye-balling the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.
“School – that’s Plan B for me,” he said. “Plan A is to go pro and fight in the Olympics. When the Olympics come around, I will be 23-years-old, about to turn 24. I am going to fight amateur fights up through the Olympics if I can make it and if I get there, I can turn pro right after that. If not, I have my education to fall back on.”
But regardless of what the future holds, Jay Paul said his present is pretty nice considering he was once considered to be a kid that would never speak again.
“It’s been a long road and a struggle for me,” he said. “But I’m a fighter. Not even just in the ring, but just in everything. I’m a fighter.”
Local boxer Roland Molinere III (second from right) poses with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (far right) as he received a Columbus Rotary scholarship for boxing excellence.
