{"id":724322,"date":"2026-06-09T03:15:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T03:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/724322\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T03:15:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T03:15:23","slug":"boxings-andrew-moloney-reveals-emotional-truth-behind-ibf-title-victory-over-willibaldo-garcia-fight-video-reaction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/724322\/","title":{"rendered":"Boxings: Andrew Moloney reveals emotional truth behind IBF title victory over Willibaldo Garcia, fight video, reaction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andrew Moloney has revealed he was haunted by memories of his heartbreaking 2020 world title defeat as he headed into the final round of his world championship battle in Japan.<\/p>\n

The popular Aussie star completed a stunning comeback on Saturday night<\/a>, edging Mexico\u2019s Willibaldo Garcia by majority decision to claim the IBF super flyweight world championship and become a two-time world champion. <\/p>\n

Paro v Crocker | Wednesday June 24 from 7pm AEST | Liam Paro gets his long awaited title shot against IBF welterweight champion, Lewis Crocker plus Nelson Asofa-Solomona vs George Burgess. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The judges scored the fight 115-113, 115-113 and 114-114 after a brutal 12-round war.<\/p>\n

But while Moloney ultimately had his hand raised, the 35-year-old said flashbacks to a previous title heartbreak fuelled his final-round charge. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I lost my world title in 2020, it came down to one round,\u201d he told Fox Sports Australia on Monday from Japan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019d just won one more round, it would have been a draw and I would have kept the belt. That\u2019s something that\u2019s always been in the back of my mind. <\/p>\n

\u201cGoing into that last round, I sort of had flashbacks to that. These things that are heartbreaking at the time, but end up being lessons \u2013 and you know that is probably what got me over the line in that last round.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I needed to push and secure the fight in that last round.\u201d<\/p>\n

The drama didn\u2019t end when the final bell sounded, either.<\/p>\n

Having previously been on the wrong end of several controversial scorecards throughout his career, Moloney said old scars resurfaced while he waited for the judges\u2019 verdict.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs they read out the decision, they read my name and it was in Japanese, so it was sort of hard to work out what they were saying,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I got the decision on the first judge\u2019s scorecard by one one point, 115-113, but a lot of the time when you hear a decision called out, the first person that\u2019s called is generally the loser.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I thought, \u2018Oh no, is this going to be a split decision to him?\u2019 or \u2018Is it going to be a draw?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just thinking, \u2018Please, please, please, please, please.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThen when he raised my hand, it was pure emotion, mate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t even watch footage of it now without getting tears in my eyes. It\u2019s very special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australian world champion Andrew MoloneySource: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n

Moloney, who sensationally quit the sport just over two years ago <\/a>after a controversial loss, explained that the fight almost got scrapped just two weeks out.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a crazy couple of weeks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe show was almost cancelled ten days out because they lost their major sponsor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe TV network over here [in Japan] did a deal and basically saved the show. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut those few days while we were waiting to find out what was going on were very nerve-wracking.<\/p>\n

\u201cI put so much into that training camp, and I felt like this was my moment and it almost was taken away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moloney started strongly and appeared to be in control of the fight early, but Garcia clawed his way back into the contest through the middle rounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt I\u2019d lost a little bit of momentum about three quarters the way through, and I had a feeling that that last round was going to be a deciding round,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy corner told me, \u2018The fight could be on the line here. We might need this round to win, so go out there and get it done.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to dig bloody deep in that last round, but there was no way I was going to let that slip away.\u201d<\/p>\n

The victory also vindicated Moloney\u2019s decision to reject an offer worth almost $350,000 to step aside from the fight and allow unified champ Jesse \u2018Bam\u2019 Rodriguez to pursue another unification bout.<\/p>\n

The former Commonwealth Games gold medallist revealed details of the offer last week<\/a>, saying his \u2018dream was not for sale\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I hadn\u2019t have won this fight, that would have been something that I\u2019d have to live with,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so happy that I backed myself, and I took that gamble on myself to get this done.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I\u2019ve got the world title, there\u2019s going to be options, and there\u2019s some exciting things ahead and we can make that money back in the future, hopefully \u2013 and hopefully a lot more.\u201d<\/p>\n

And how does this compare to his last world title?<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the best, without a doubt,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast time I was crowned world champion, I had to end up fighting for an interim world title, and then was notified over the phone that I\u2019ve been elevated a few months later,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t how I\u2019d pictured it \u2013 but this was. Beating the champion in the ring. Going in there as challenger and coming out as champion, that\u2019s always the way I wanted to do it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess all the added things that have happened over the years, and the hardships and setbacks all made it even sweeter.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo have a hard fight like I did, and come down to that last round of, I couldn\u2019t have written it any better, to be honest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m over the moon.\u201d<\/p>\n

After retirement, controversy, near-misses and years of wondering whether another title shot would ever come, Moloney finally got the ending he had always imagined.<\/p>\n

The newly crowned champ is still weighing up his next move, but admits an undisputed showdown with Jesse Rodriguez would be difficult to turn down.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to wait until this weekend when \u2018Bam\u2019 Rodriguez fights and see what his plans are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe holds the other three titles in the division, so an undisputed fight against him would be absolutely massive.<\/p>\n

‘That was to get rid of Jake Paul’ | 00:29<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t get any bigger than that.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there\u2019s talk about him potentially moving up and not returning to the division, so if that\u2019s the case, we\u2019ll look at other options.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andrew Moloney has revealed he was haunted by memories of his heartbreaking 2020 world title defeat as he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":724323,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-724322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=724322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/724323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=724322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=724322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=724322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}