Andrew Moloney: Was Amazing To Fight In Australia For First Time in Two Years, Set Myself Up For Big 2022

There was truly no place like home for Andrew Moloney in his most recent fight.

The former WBA “World” junior bantamweight titlist picked up his first official win in more than two years, coming in a ten-round, unanimous decision over Philippines’ Froilan Saludar. Moloney won by scores of 99-91, 99-91 and 98-92 atop a show that aired live on ESPN+ from The Star Event Centre in Sydney, marking his first fight in Australia since the pandemic.

“It was amazing to fight in Australia again for the first time in over two years,” Moloney told BoxingScene.com. “Most importantly, though, it was great to finish off the year with a win against a world rated opponent and set myself up for a big year in 2022.”

Moloney (22-2, 14KOs; 1ND) spent his previous three fights in the United States after having previously fought almost exclusively in his home country. The road trip was unkind to the 30-year-old from Kingscliff, New South Wales, who saw the end of his brief title reign along with the lone blemishes on his record, all coming in his three-fight set with San Antonio’s Joshua Franco.

The rough stretch began with the lone knockdown of Moloney’s career, which came in the eleventh round of an eventual points loss to Franco, suffering his first defeat and the end of his brief title reign last June at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas. The fight was the first of an unexpected trilogy, which included a bizarre second fight where Moloney was believed to have regained his title via second-round injury stoppage, only for their November clash—also at MGM Grand—to end in a No-Contest.

A third fight this past August produced a more conclusive outcome, with Franco taking another unanimous decision in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Moloney rebounded with a win on December 21 and remains a top contender in the talent-rich junior bantamweight division. The victory is his first since a November 2019 eighth-round stoppage of Elton Dharry in Melbourne, which came with the WBA “interim” title at stake and subsequently promoted to WBA “World” titlist.  

“I’m happy to have won the fight convincingly against a very good opponent,” notes Moloney. I feel I was very close to stopping him on a few occasions. Saludar was extremely tough and used his experience to make it difficult and tie me up when he was in trouble.

“We knew he would be dangerous early in the fight but believed we would break him down especially if I could hit his body early which is exactly what happened.”

Moloney—whose twin brother Jason Moloney is a top-rated bantamweight contender and former two-time title challenger—is expected to next fight in the first half of 2022. The hope is to land a shot at Japan’s WBO junior bantamweight titlist Kazuto Ioka (27-2, 15KOs), who first faces countryman Ryoji Fukunaga this Friday atop a New Year’s Eve show in Tokyo.

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