Maloney twins aim to beat Tszyu family to be first Aussie brothers to hold world titles at same time

As the children of boxing queen Kostya Tszyu dominate the headlines in Australia, the Maloney twins are poised to beat them in the race for a unique accolade.

Tim Tszyu currently holds the WBO interim light-middleweight title, but his brother and rising star Nikita Tszyu has yet to reach those heights.

That gives Australian twins Jason and Andrew Maloney a rare chance to become the first Australian siblings to simultaneously hold world titles, as both line up for United States title shots just a week apart.

Jason Moloney will face Andrew the Filipino Vincent Astrolabio on Sunday against Japanese opponent Junto Nakatani for the vacant WBO junior bantamweight title in Las Vegas one week later.

To make the lineup even more stunning, the twin Aussie fighters also boast identical 25-2 professional records.

Andrew Moloney, pictured right as he celebrates his brother’s victory over Nawaphon Kaikanha last year, gets his injection a week later

Tim and Nikita Tszyu, the sons of former Aussie champion Kostya Tszyu, are highly regarded boxers in their own right, but have never held simultaneous world titles

Jason said the sliding doors moment for the boxers came when they decided to leave their family and long-time trainer in Melbourne behind in search of more improvement.

“I sacrificed a lot to get to this position, I know once I win the world title it will all be worth it,” said Jason Moloney. Code sports.

“When Andrew and I were 16, 17 fights in and undefeated, everyone on the outside thought everything was great.

“But as fighters ourselves, we felt like we weren’t improving. We both have big dreams in the sport and we knew we had to constantly improve and move to another level to achieve those big goals.

“We made the very, very difficult decision at the time to pack our bags and leave behind our coach who we had been with for seven or eight years.

“We spoke to both our partners and said we think we want to move, we need a new trainer. We went up and did a trial with Angelo Hyder in northern NSW and immediately Andrew and I said ‘this is where we need to be’.

The brothers have mostly plied their trade in the United States, but have plans for a blockbuster Australian double-header after talks with promoter Top Rank’s Hall of Fame boss Bob Arum.

“These guys are already doing huge numbers in the US; they have big profiles here, but there wouldn’t be anything bigger,” manager Tony Tolj told AAP.

“The first Aussie brothers to hold titles at the same time… they could fill a stadium.

“All we can do is keep winning, win world titles and then it’s a question of if, not when.”

Jason Moloney defeated Aston Palicte in the undercard bout for the world lightweight championship between George Kambosos Jr. and Devin Haney in 2022

There have been several sliding door moments that have resulted in the Moloney brothers being able to fight for the world titles just a week apart

Moloney (25-2) knows his profile on home soil isn’t where it could be, but that it would all change if everything goes according to plan over the weekend.

“When you fight abroad you get kind of forgotten about, we don’t get as much media coverage as other Australian boxers,” he said.

“This is the beginning of what we want to create, a large following. Once we bring these two tapes home, it goes to a whole other level.”

Moloney and Astrolabio (18-3) both weighed less than a pound under the 118-pound mark on Saturday (AEST), the pair winning four and six fights respectively to earn the chance.

The division has been vacated thanks to the move of Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue to the 122-pound division.

Inoue beat Moloney three years ago in Las Vegas, but the Australian was one of the few to win rounds against the undefeated, undisputed champion.