Jason Moloney is trying to stay focused on the task at hand.
Moloney could only watch nervously from ringside as twin brother Andrew lost a decision to Joshua Franco on Tuesday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. He has to put that on a back shelf, though. He has his own fight this evening (Thursday) in the same ballroom.
Jason Moloney faces Leonardo Baez in a scheduled 10-round bantamweight fight in the main event of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN show.
“It was very tough to watch,” Jason Moloney told BoxingScene.com, referring to his brother’s setback. Andrew was defending what the WBA calls its “regular” title, which Boxing Junkie doesn’t recognize. Jason lost a split decision to Emmanuel Rodriguez in 2018 in his only title fight.
“Obviously, I know how hard he has worked to get to where he is right now and to win that world title,” Jason went on. “It just wasn’t him in there. … I don’t know what went wrong, but he’ll be back. I’m sure he’ll learn a lot from that defeat. He hasn’t shown anywhere near what he’s capable of. He’s got a lot more let in him, and I’m sure he’ll make the adjustments and come back even stronger.
“I know he can become world champion again.”
Jason is trying to compartmentalize what happened Tuesday so he can focus on tonight.
“I’m trying to reserve my energy,” he said. “I’ve got a fight myself, so I just have to sort of numb myself to the situation and stay focused on the task at hand because as hard as it is watching your brother [lose], I’ve got my own career to focus on and my own goals that I wanna achieve as well.
“So, I’ve sort of blocked that out and tried to stay as focused as I can on my fight.”
And for those who might be expecting another upset?
“I’m already a really driven and motivated guy,” the Aussie said. “But I know people are writing us off now, and I’m here to prove what we can do. It gives me just even more hunger, even more desire to go out there and do what I came to do.”
Tonight’s care begins at 8 p.m. ET.
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