Andrew Moloney dreamed of fighting in the main event at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It turned out to be a nightmare.
Joshua Franco pulled off a significant upset Tuesday night on ESPN, rallying from an early deficit to defeat the much-hyped Australian by a close, but unanimous decision in a thrilling 12-round junior bantamweight fight.
They fought for what the WBA calls its “regular” title, which Boxing Junkie doesn’t recognize. Roman Gonzalez is the WBA champion.
“[It’s] a great feeling,” Franco said. “It still hasn’t hit me yet. It’s surreal. I can’t believe I’m a world champion. I worked so hard for this. I knew the hard work would pay off in the end.”
It certainly paid off in the fight.
Moloney (21-1, 14 KOs) came to the U.S. with the reputation of being an excellent boxer. And he looked the part in the first half of the fight, sticking, moving, pounding Franco to the body to control the early rounds as twin brother and fellow fighter Jason nervously watched from ringside.
The Aussie led on two cards after six rounds (59-55 and 58-56). The third judge had it even (57-57) at that point.
Franco (17-1-2, 8 KOs) entered the fight with the reputation of being a grinder, a tough, fit guy with solid skills who throws a lot of shots. The San Antonio product started slowly but methodically morphed into that punching machine, landing more and more damaging blows as the fight progressed.
He was in charge by Round 10, when Moloney’s face began to look battered and he suffered a cut above his right eye. In Round 11, Franco scored what would be the deciding knockdown, the result of a multi-punch, head-snapping combination that forced Moloney to touch his gloves to the canvas.
The 12th and final round was competitive, leaving the outcome in doubt when the final bell rang to end the best fight of the Top Rank summer series.
The final scores: 115-112, 114-113 and 114-113. Had Moloney not gone down, the two 114-113 scores would’ve 114-114 and the fight would’ve been a majority draw.
When the scores were announced, Franco smiled broadly, thrust his arms in the air, jumped up and down and then gave trainer Robert Garcia a bear hug in celebration. And why not? He had instantly become a major player at 115 pounds.
“I feel little by little I was breaking him down,” Franco said. “I could here him make little noises when I hit him, so I knew little by little I would get to him.”
Maloney was devastated but optimistic afterward.
“It just wasn’t my night tonight,” he said. “This was not the best version of Andrew Moloney, but full credit to Joshua Franco. He deserved to win the title with his effort. He closed the fight strong, like a true champion.”
“I’ll be back. One loss won’t define me.”
In preliminaries, featherweight contender Christopher Diaz (26-2, 16 KOs) of Puerto Rico gave Jason Sanchez (15-2, 8 KOs) of Albuquerque a boxing lesson en route to a clear unanimous decision in a 10-round bout.
Diaz, quick, athletic and skillful, picked Sanchez apart from beginning to end. The Barranquitas product landed consistently from a distance and used his feet to thwart most of Sanchez’s advances.
Sanchez did good work when he got inside and let his hands go but Diaz allowed that to happen infrequently, which assured his victory.
The scores were 98-92, 97-93 and 98-92.
Diaz has won two consecutive fights since losing two out three in 2018 and last year. Masayuki Ito defeated him by a wide decision to win a vacant junior lightweight title and Shakur Stevenson did the same in a 10-round featherweight fight.
Diaz hopes to get another shot at a title soon.
Also, Miguel Contreras (11-0, 6 KOs) of Bakersfield, California outworked Rolando Vargas (5-1, 5 KOs) of Milwaukee to win a unanimous decision in a fast-paced six-round junior welterweight fight. All three judges had it 58-56, four rounds to two.
And, in a six-round heavyweight fight, Helaman Olguin (8-3, 3 KOs) of South Jordan, Utah defeated Adam Stewart (8-1-1, 5 KOs) of Phoenix by a majority decision. The scores were 57-57, 58-56 and 58-56.