It has been over five years but the pain of Australian Jason Moloney’s defeat in his first world title attempt still lingers.
Now, on Sunday, Moloney can take a big step towards getting a shot at revenge when he takes on Saul Sanchez in his first world title defence.
Should he win, Moloney will push for legendary US promoter Bob Arum to put together a world title fight against Emmanuel Rodriguez, who he suffered a controversial loss against in 2018.
“It still eats away at me,” Moloney said of the defeat to the IBF titleholder.
“Now that I’m a champion it’s not something I cry over, but still — whenever I watch that fight back — I think I won it.
“And what makes me want (the rematch) more is knowing how much I’ve improved since that fight.”
Boxing: Beterbiev v Smith SUN 14th JAN 12PM AEDT | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports
Arum has already floated the idea of having Moloney fight as the co-main to a potential IBF lightweight title meeting between George Kambosos and Vasiliy Lomachenko in Australia.
Other potential opponents for Moloney including Japanese rival Junto Nakatani and WBA champion Takuma Inoue. But for now, all his attention is on Sunday and Sanchez.
Moloney (26-2, 19KOs) is looking to make the biggest statement of his career against Sanchez (20-2, 12KOs), who enters Sunday on a two-fight win streak with back-to-back victories over Franklin Gonzalez and RV Deniega.
The Australian has just one finish in his past seven fights and is determined to really celebrate claiming WBO gold with a “statement knockout” on Sunday.
“I want to put on an impressive performance,” said Moloney.
“Stop him and really make a statement. Show the rest of this division what I’m all about.
“I really believe I’m the best bantamweight in the world and now I need to prove that. So I’ll break him down and then knock him down in impressive fashion.”
The opportunity for Moloney to do just that could present itself early too if Sanchez comes out firing as expected.
“He (Sanchez) is an aggressive, come forward fighter – and I love that,” the champ said.
“I want them to come forward. The more aggressive he becomes, the more he wants it, the easier he is to take out.
“That’s the beautiful part of this sport. The survivors, they’re hard to knock out. But the guy who wants to win, who wants to bring the fight … that’s a dangerous recipe.”
Sanchez though is eyeing a knockout of his own, telling Boxing Scenethat he doesn’t think that Moloney will last more than eight rounds.
“I know he’s going to be extremely hungry,” Moloney added.
“And while I have spoken about (future) fights, I’m certainly not looking past this guy.
“Because there’s no easy fights for me now.
“And he (Sanchez) is a tough, strong fighter who will try to bring a lot of pressure.”
Moloney is not the only Australian fighting on Sunday, with Rohan Murdock (27-2, 19 KOs) also in action as he faces the undefeated Christian Mbilli (25-0, 21 KOs) as the co-feature to Artur Beterbiev’s WBO, WBC and IBF light heavyweight world title defence against Callum Smith.
For the undefeated middleweight contender, Sunday’s fight against Murdock represents an opportunity to prove his world title credentials in the division.
The Australian though will prove tough to take down, having only been stopped once in his 29 professional fights (11th round knockout to Zach Parker in 2020).
Murdock’s most recent victory came over fellow Australian Isaac Hardman and he enters Sunday’s bout on a three-fight win streak, although he is still the heavy underdog.
Of course, attention will eventually turn to the main event as unified lightweight champion Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KO) looks to keep his unblemished record, this time facing off against Smith — a man who has found plenty of success since moving up to light heavyweight.
The dream fight on the cards for boxing fans is an undisputed bout between light heavyweight champions Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol but Smith will be looking to play spoiler on Sunday.
WHAT TIME DOES IT START?
Coverage of the card will begin at 12pm (AEDT), with Jason Moloney expected to make the ring walk at 1pm while fellow Australian Rohan Murdock will be fighting right after.
HOW TO WATCH
Australian boxing fans can catch all the action LIVE on Main Event via Kayo Sports.
Want to order the event? Click here!
TALE OF THE TAPE
Jason Moloney (AUS)
Record: 26-2 (19 KOs)
Age: 33
Height: 165cm
Last fight: Beat Vincent Astrolabio via MD (115-113, 116-112, 114-114) on May 13, 2023
Saul Sanchez
Record: 20-2 (12 KOs)
Age: 26
Height: 165cm
Last fight: Beat RV Deniega via UD (79-73 x 2, 78-74) on October 12, 2023
Rohan Murdock (AUS)
Record: 27-2 (19 KOs)
Age: 31
Height: 183cm
Last fight: Beat Issac Hardman via SD (97-92 x 2, 93-96) on March 12, 2023
Christian Mbilli
Record: 25-0 (21 KOs)
Age: 28
Height: 174cm
Last fight: Beat Demond Nicholson via KO in Round 4 on September 8, 2023
FULL FIGHT CARD & RESULTS
Callum Smith vs Artur Beterbiev (c) — for IBF, WBC and WBO light heavyweight world titles
Christian Mbilli vs Rohan Murdock — super middleweight
Jason Moloney (c) vs Saul Sanchez — for WBO bantamweight world title
Joaquin Murrieta Lucio vs Imam Khataev — light heavyweight
Elizabeth Espinoza vs Leila Beaudoin — super featherweight
Jose Arias Alvarez vs Wilkens Mathieu — super middleweight
Dragan Lepei vs Mehmet Unal — light heavyweight
Sergio Herrera vs Christopher Guerrero — welterweight
Moreno Fendero def. Victor Hugo Flores via KO — super middleweight
LIVE UPDATES
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