By Terence Dooley
Frank Maloney guided Rendall Munroe and Jason Booth to super-bantamweight world title tilts this year only to see both men fall short at the top level. Maloney, though, believes that his two 122lb charges can come back stronger, with Munroe especially well placed for a 2011 title shot should he string some wins together.
“Rendall fought well,” said Maloney when speaking exclusively to Boxingscene.com about Munroe’s October points reverse to WBC boss Toshiaki Nishioka, “he came up a bit short on the night but didn’t disgrace himself so we will bring him back. I think he can get a few wins, become mandatory again, and get a world title shot. We will sit down and sort out his path for next year.”
Munroe was 10-1 (4 early) and treading water early in his career only for Maloney to step in and give the Leicester bin man some much needed direction. An EBU title win over Kiko Martinez marked Munroe out as one to watch; ‘The Boxing Bin Man’ consolidated and did things the hard way – travelling to Japan for his world title contest. Maloney was quick to remind me of this when praised for his part in Munroe’s recent success.
“Rendall did the fighting, all I did was make the fights, Rendall did all the work and will be out again soon,” was Maloney’s frank response when asked if he was proud in the part he had played in Rendall’s resurgence.
He added: “Rendall is still highly ranked in Europe and was doing well so we’ll see how it goes next year.”
Jason Booth strung a series of eight wins together en route to his IBF title chance. However, he found Canada’s Steve Molitor too cute on the night. Had Maloney given serious thought to pitching Booth in with Munroe after their world title reverses?
“I did, yeah, but the time wasn’t right to make it,” said Maloney when asked about a potential Munroe-Booth showdown, he still hopes to guide both men back to contention. “Rendall will be going for titles next year and we’ll take it step-by-step with both fighters.”
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