Andrew Moloney would have preferred a personal view of Kal Yafai’s latest title defense, as he’s long served as his overdue mandatory challenger.

Instead, he simply admired the action and its aftermath from afar, as Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez (49-2, 41KOs) dismantled the previously unbeaten Yafai (26-1, 15KOs) in nine rounds.

“Chocolatito looked great on the weekend,” Moloney (21-0, 14KOs) told BoxingScene.com of the changing of the guard in the junior bantamweight division, which took place Saturday in Frisco, Texas. “I’m not sure why Yafai decided to sit inside and trade with Chocolatito who is a great combination puncher.

“I think Yafai thought he would be too strong but this was definitely not the case as he seemed to have been effected from making the weight. Gonzalez broke him down and eventually finished him.”

The bout was put together at the expense of Australia’s Moloney, whom has served as the mandatory title challenger since his 8th round stoppage of Miguel Gonzalez last March on the road in San Francisco de Mostazal, Chile. The unbeaten 29-year old—whose twin brother Jason is a top bantamweight contender—has since added an interim title to his arsenal and has now been elevated to "Regular" titlist with Gonzalez now recognized as the "Super" champion.

Gonzalez—a four-division titlist now on his second tour as a 115-pound title claimant—is at the stage of Hall of Fame-bound career where the preference will be nothing but big fights. As most of his divisional peers are busy, a title consolidation clash will make perfect sense.

First up for Moloney is his long-awaited stateside debut, as he will face an opponent to be determined on an April 17 show to air on an ESPN platform live from the Osage Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. From there, the hope is a clean and injury-free victory to set up his long-awaited title shot and by far the biggest fight of his career.

“At the moment I’m only focused on my upcoming fight in April but the Chocolatito fight is definitely the fight I want,” acknowledges Moloney. “It would be an honor to share the ring with him and I’m confident that I can beat him.

“To become a legend, you must beat a legend and that’s what I plan on doing.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox