Fighter of the Week (5/8-5/14): Jason Moloney
Of the three world title fights on Saturday, only one of them appeared to be a competitive, 50-50 type matchup that either fighter could win. Jason "Mayhem" Moloney of New South Wales, Australia, took on a major challenger in Vincent Astrolabio, who had wins over Guillermo Rigondeaux and Nikolai Potapov. Moloney put together a near-picture-perfect performance in taking the majority decision and capturing the vacant WBO Bantamweight title. In addition to picking up his first world title, the Australiana moved his record 26-2 (19), picked up his fifth consecutive win, captured our Fighter of the Week Award, and put himself in line for a massive multimillion-dollar payday.
Saturday night in Stockton, California, marked Moloney's 3rd, and perhaps final, and probably best shot to win a world title. Moloney's plan was clear from the start to circle, box cautiously, and avoid the massive power of Astrolabio. The Australian was winning the battle of the jab early. He was popping it out with consistency and upsetting the rhythm of his hard-hitting opponent. In addition to scoring fairly consistently with his jab, his movement nullified the jab of Astrolabio. Moloney scored the first punch of consequence in the second round, a massive right hand that hurt the Filipino. Working his angels, Moloney again hurt his opponent. This time with an uppercut in the third as he seized control of the fight. Astrolabio got going in the fifth and scored with a right uppercut that caught the attention of Moloney and later landed with another clean left hook as he rallied in the middle rounds. Another rally followed in the ninth and 10th from Astrolabio. He capped off with a big right hand in the 10th which seemed to be getting the Filipino back in the fight on the cards. However Moloney got back to basics and outboxed his man in the last two rounds to take the clear-cut victory by scores of 116-112, and 115-113 with the third judge, Tom Carusone, had it far too close at 114-114.
"Mayhem" has now won five consecutive fights since his brutal knockout loss to Naoya Inoue in October 2020. It was a long, difficult journey to the top for Moloney and he will possibly have to face legendary former world champion and future hall of famer Nonito Donaire in his first world title fight, who even at 40, is going to be perhaps an even better challenge than anyone Moloney has beaten in his current winning streak. The fight comes with a big upside, a $ 2 million purse, and a win to give him a legend on his resume and make Moloney a financial draw in the 118-pound division for the foreseeable future.
