Twin brothers Jason “The Smooth One” and Andrew “The Monster” Moloney both retained their World Boxing Association (WBA) Oceania Titles at Town Hall in Malvern, Australia.
Jason improved his record to 17-0 by scoring his 14th stoppage victory via technical knockout over his stiffest test to date when the former two time WBA Super Flyweight Champion Kohei Kono could no longer continue after the sixth round due to heavy bleeding.
It was a good test for “The Smooth One” although it was one he handled with relative ease, as Kono came out aggressive and swinging a bit wild. Kono was landing some sporadic shots early on but then Jason took the fight over nearing the end of the first round starting with a right hand that nearly lifted Kono off the canvas.
In the third round Jason scored a knockdown off of a stiff jab that Kono left himself wide open to. The two time champion rose to his feet and made it through the round but he was definitely hurt from the jab as it appeared to be more than just a flash knockdown.
After the knockdown Jason would take total control of the fight as he started to press forward and back up Kono in spots while pouring on the punishment. Kono would start bleeding from a cut above the left eye in the fourth round; which would be the same cut that would spell the end of the fight for him.
The canvas and both fighters were painted red from Kong’s blood by the end of the sixth round where he was taking heavy punishment and fading just as the young champion was coming on stronger by the round.
With the victory Jason Moloney took on his stiffest test to date and handled it like a seasoned professional as he became only the second man alongside Naoya Inoue to stop Kono, with “The Smooth One” no doubt further advanced his world ranking.
After the fight Jason commented “It was a gauge to see where we are at,” adding further, “I would like to think I am one of the best bantamweights in the world and that we will reach the top. I got the best team in the world behind me.”
Andrew “The Monster” Moloney improved his record to 17-0 via a ten round unanimous decision victory with scores of 98-91, 98-91, and 99-91 over the hard punching Filipino Richard Claveras after getting up off the deck in the seventh round from a flash knockdown to close out the fight.
Claveras came out early in the fight throwing almost exclusively to the body as he was looking to put some work in the bank for the late rounds but Andrew wisely boxed his man, opting to use his much quicker feet to keep his distance and stay out of the inside fighting.
“The Monster” then showed his slick boxing abilities (perhaps Jason and Andrew should consider swapping names?) as he shifted between orthodox and southpaw stance to confuse and blunt the offense of Claveras.
Andrew was chipping away at Claveras, who had become an easy target for the switch-hitting Aussie that was showing great footwork and accurate punching. This all mounted up in the seventh round, where Andrew trapped his man on the ropes and it looked like Claveras may be ready to go but just at that moment Claveras unleashed a right hand to the chin that dropped Andrew and perhaps saved himself from being stopped.
Andrew rose off the canvas and used clinching and his still steady legs to burn through the remainder of the round. He would then come out in the eighth round and wisely box his man for the remainder of the fight – easily outpointing Claveras when he kept his distance and used his quicker hands and feet to score straighter blows.
Despite the clear cut victory Andrew would say after the fight “I’m buggered, Richard Claveras is one tough boy” as he was referring to the flash knockdown he suffered and no doubt the fact that despite all the clean, hard blows he landed Claveras was still standing.
Andrew would further mention that he wants to fight for a World Title, saying “I am ready to take on the World Champions; the WBA champion Khalid Yafai is the one I want.”
