A DREAM DELAYED
Moloney’s lungs burned. His legs felt leaden. His blistered feet were on fire. There was little left in the tank, but he refused to let his dream slip away. He emptied his tank over the final three minutes and now awaited his fate. The first scorecard went his way, seven rounds to five – often a bad omen. The second offered a measure of relief – a draw. The third finally released the tension. “... and new …” Six years earlier, Moloney had wondered if he would ever hear those words. It was the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and the boxing industry was in survival mode. International travel had ground to a halt, and promoters around the world had shelved plans for major events. But where there’s a will, there’s a way. Top Rank was more ambitious than most. The Las Vegas promotional powerhouse had signed Andrew and his twin brother, Jason, the previous year. Pandemic or not, the company wasn’t prepared to wait. The twins accepted assignments to
compete inside the gambling capital’s famous “Bubble” at the MGM Grand on separate cards in June 2020. Andrew was matched with Joshua Franco, the older brother of future pound-for-pound star Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, in the first defense of Moloney’s WBA “regular” junior bantamweight title. Stylistically, it appeared to be a favorable matchup. If only there had been a crowd to witness it. As was often the case, Moloney started fast before Franco steadily worked his way back into the fight. An 11th-round knockdown scored by Franco proved to be the difference in a razor-thin unanimous decision. Andrew had plenty of time to replay the fight in his mind during the long journey home. He had even more time to dwell on it while confined to hotel quarantine after returning to Australia. Jason fared better. Just two days after his brother’s loss, he would stop a bloodied Leonardo Baez in seven rounds. “It was a wild time,” Jason recalled. “Over there, you got tested and locked
in your hotel room until the results came back. I think we were the first Australian athletes – let alone boxers – who were allowed to leave the country. “We both had young families at the time, and we had no idea how long we were going to be away, let alone who we were fighting. “I’d just had probably the best win of my career against Leonardo Baez. Andrew had lost his world title. So here I am happy with my performance while he’s devastated, and we’re stuck in quarantine together. It’s hard when you think back to those times now. “You just wanted to get home and see your family instead of sitting in a hotel room alone with your thoughts, wondering what you could have done differently.” For manager Tony Tolj, the sacrifice was even greater: two weeks in quarantine in Sydney, followed by another fortnight locked away in a hotel room upon his return to his home city of Perth. “During COVID, I spent more than six months in hotel quarantine,” Tolj said. “But I’d do it all again, because I had no option. It was the only way those guys could get fights, and I wanted to give them every opportunity.” Those years tested everyone. Jason had his own mountain to climb. Fresh off the biggest win of his career against Baez, he was matched with feared Japanese knockout artist Naoya Inoue for the Ring, IBF and WBA bantamweight championships on Halloween 2020. The bout took place inside the Bubble before little more than production staff and officials. Already a three-division world champion and a fixture on most pound-for-pound lists, Inoue represented perhaps the toughest assignment in boxing. Jason acquitted himself well, despite going in with an injured hand that was
Brother Jason stopped Herlan Gomez in December and seeks another title fight.
badly in need of surgery. He boxed confidently and refused to be intimidated before Inoue’s accurate power-punching finally broke him down in the seventh. Two weeks later, it was Andrew’s turn. He faced Franco in an immediate rematch at the same venue. Franco had already proven he was no easy mark, but Andrew made the perfect start. An accurate jab created significant swelling around Franco’s right eye in the opening round. What followed remains one of boxing’s more infamous officiating blunders. Referee Russell Mora incorrectly ruled that the damage had been caused by an accidental clash of heads. When the ringside physician stopped the bout, it was declared a no decision instead of the technical knockout victory that would have restored Moloney’s secondary world title. Another dream denied. Andrew would lose the rubber match with Franco via unanimous
fighters might have folded. Moloney did the opposite. He clawed his way back into the contest through sheer determination, forcing Nakatani to work for every moment of success. But courage alone wasn’t enough. Another knockdown followed in the 11th from a crushing left cross. Even then, Moloney insisted on answering the bell for the final round. The end came suddenly. A looping overhand left detonated on his chin with a crack that echoed through the arena. Moloney was left flat on his back, sprawled on the canvas. The brutal ending would later be named The Ring’s Knockout of the Year. Moloney was taken to the hospital for precautionary tests. What happened afterward stayed with those closest to him. “We all went back to the hospital just to make sure everything was OK,” recalled Tolj. “When we were getting ready to leave, Andrew had ordered an Uber for [trainer] Angelo [Hyder] and
decision in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in August 2021, bringing one of the sport’s most
frustrating rivalries to a close. Yet he refused to disappear.
Four consecutive victories over the next year thrust Andrew back into world title contention and earned him a shot at the vacant WBO junior bantamweight championship in May 2023. Standing opposite him was Junto Nakatani. The undefeated Japanese southpaw had already captured a world title at flyweight and was widely regarded as the heir apparent to Inoue. Bigger, stronger and devastatingly accurate, Nakatani appeared destined for stardom. He showed why almost immediately. A right uppercut crashed into Moloney’s jaw in the second round and sent him sprawling to the canvas. Lesser
Andrew Moloney was the sharper and more accurate fighter against Garcia.
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