Jason Moloney: I Would Absolutely Love A Fight With Casimero

With plenty of time on his hands while spending 14 days in quarantine in his native Australia, Jason Moloney used that period to map out his fighting future.

During that stretch, he couldn’t help but notice the absence of an opponent for reigning WBO bantamweight titlist John Riel Casimero.

Prior plans called for the three-division titlist from Philippines to face Japan’s Naoya Inoue (19-0, 16KOs) in a three-belt unification bout this past April in Las Vegas. The show was canceled along with every other springtime event due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Efforts to reschedule the bout have proven futile, leaving Casimero (29-4. 20KOs) without a dance partner in a hoped-for ring return in the near future.

There is a solution.

“I would absolutely love a fight with Casimero,” Moloney (21-1, 18KOs) told BoxingScene.com. “He is a great champion and I have a lot of respect for him. It would be an incredible fight.”

The 29-year old bantamweight contender picked up his fourth straight victory and first in the United States following a 7th round stoppage of Leonardo Baez. Their June 25 bout aired live on ESPN from MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, where Moloney and his twin brother—recently dethroned junior bantamweight titlist Andrew Moloney (21-1, 14KOs)—were headquartered since late May.

Casimero has been in Vegas since mid-March, having arrived early in hopes that his bout with Inoue would move forward. Travel restrictions have kept the Filipino on the strip through present day.

A return back home required a mandatory 14-day quarantine in line with COVID-19 prevention protocol, with Moloney now reunited with his family. The goal was always to return to the U.S. for his next fight, which he hoped would be a second career title shot.

There is now a window of opportunity to make that become a reality.

“My dream is to become world champion and I feel 100% ready to achieve that goal,” insists Moloney, whose lone career defeat came in an October 2018 split decision defeat to then-unbeaten 118-pound titlist Emmanuel Rodriguez. “This would be an incredible fight and a fight I’m very confident that I would win.”

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