Andrew Moloney claimed the IBF junior bantamweight title with a majority decision victory over Willibaldo Garcia in Tokoname, Japan. The judges scored the bout 115-113 (twice) and 114-114 in favour of the Australian who, in victory, invited Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez to be his next dance partner.
“It’s been a long, hard road to get this world title, but we finally got it done,” Moloney told ESPN afterwards. “This means everything to me. My whole life has been dedicated to being a world champion.”
Garcia, 23-7-2 (13 KOs), applied pressure from the opening bell but Moloney, in control, countered masterfully to both body and head. Such was Moloney’s class, which was trumping the champion’s determined but crude forward motion, he took five of the first six rounds on all cards.
The Mexican, always pressuring, rallied from the seventh round, however. Moloney, 29-4 (18 KOs), suddenly looked a little bedraggled and, by the eighth, was nursing two cuts above his eyes.
It would take a rally in the 12th and final round to swing things Moloney’s way again. He would take it on all three judges’ cards to eke out a narrow triumph.
“I had to dig deep in that final round,” Moloney said. “We pulled it out. I couldn’t be happier.”
As for what’s next, the new champion said: “I’d love the undisputed fight with ‘Bam’. That’s the biggest prize in boxing.”
Sikho Nqothole, who last week beat Charlie Edwards to secure mandatory status with the IBF, might have something to say about that.
In the main event of a card that also featured John Riel Casimero blasting out Luis Nery, Masamichi Yabuki, 20-4 (18 KOs), unanimously outpointed Mexico’s Rene Calixto, 24-2-1 (10 KOs), over 12 rounds to retain his IBF flyweight title. The scores were 118-108 (twice) and 116-110.