Australian champ Jason Moloney defends world title in brutal dogfight: ‘Fight of the Year contender already’
- Moloney successfully defends the WBO bantamweight title
- The world title fight was a back-and-forth dogfight
- The audience then gave the fighters a standing ovation
Jason Moloney has survived an enthralling 12-round fight with Mexico’s Saul Sanchez to successfully defend his WBO world bantamweight title in Canada.
The Australian had to bounce back from Sanchez’s aggressive start, using all his ring skills and courage to turn the tables and cruise to victory via a tight points decision in Quebec City on Sunday (AEST).
One judge (114-114) couldn’t split them, while two others scored seven rounds in the 33-year-old’s favor to the challenger’s five (116-112) in Moloney’s first defense of the title he won last May won.
The fight was so exciting and fluctuating that those judges often disagreed on who won which round, Moloney’s overall dominance in the middle stages of the fight and in the final two rounds – he received five out of a possible six votes in the 11th and 12th rounds – the difference.
Fans were impressed by the action and took to social media to comment.
Jason Moloney made his first successful defense of his WBO bantamweight world title
Both men left everything they had in the ring, with the Australian narrowly coming away with the victory
“Already an early FOTY (Fight of the Year) candidate,” one X user commented.
‘Very good fight. I’d love to see that again,” another replied.
‘Great fight. I would have won it by two,” a third replied.
It sets up the potential of a mouthwatering homecoming unification fight alongside George Kambosos Jr., who will face Ukraine’s two-time Olympic champion and three-weight king Vasily Lomachenko for the vacant IBF lightweight spot in May.
Moloney could face IBF champion Emmanuel Rodriguez, five years after losing to the Puerto Rican for that title.
Or he could fight Junto Nakatani, who moved up a division after knocking out Andrew’s twin brother Jason to win the WBO super flyweight title last year.
A third option is a date with WBA champion Takuma Inoue, whose brother Naoya Inoue Moloney retired in 2020 to retain his IBF and WBA straps.
Moloney’s eyebrow was split by a headbutt early in the fight with Sanchez, but as the blood started flowing in the fourth round the Australian found his rhythm.
Sanchez had an aggressive start and scored well against the Australian champions
Fight fans stood and applauded the riveting match after it was over
Sánchez came again in the later rounds, forcing Moloney to draw on his last reserves and prevent the Mexican’s incredible flurry on tired legs in the final 20 seconds.
Previously Russian-born Sydney light heavyweight Imam Khataev improved to 6-0 and dominated Pole Michal Ludwiczak in a second-round stoppage.
The 29-year-old, who won bronze for Russia at the Tokyo Games but now fights under the Australian flag, has not progressed beyond the third round in any of his six professional victories.
Fellow Australian Rohan Murdock (27-2) fights Canadian Christian Mbilli in the co-main event before fellow Australian Artur Beterbiev – who has a perfect 19 stoppages in 19 fights – defends his light heavyweight titles against England’s Callum Smith.