Defeating Andrew Moloney on Tuesday night wouldn’t just make Joshua Franco a 115-pound world champion.
Overcoming Moloney in a 12-round title fight ESPN will televise from Las Vegas also would move the 24-year-old Franco into prime position for the fight he has always wanted – a shot at Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez.
San Antonio’s Franco (16-1-2, 8 KOs) will challenge Australia’s Moloney (21-0, 14 KOs) for the WBA’s secondary super flyweight title. Nicaragua’s Gonzalez (49-2, 41 KOs) is the WBA’s primary champion in the 115-pound division.
“Getting the world title, that opens up big doors for me, puts me on top,” Franco told BoxingScene.com. “You know, I could fight Roman Gonzalez next, even [Juan Francisco] Estrada. Those are the goals.”
Estrada and Gonzalez reportedly agreed to terms for a highly anticipated rematch before the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily shut down the boxing business in the middle of March. A then-unbeaten Gonzalez defeated Estrada by unanimous decision in their 12-round fight for Gonzalez’s WBA light flyweight title in November 2012.
Mexico’s Estrada (40-3, 27 KOs) has since emerged as one of the elite fighters in boxing’s lower weight classes. The 33-year-old Gonzalez lost twice to Srisaket Sor Rungvisai twice in 2017, but Estrada won the WBC 115-pound crown from Sor Rungvisai (47-5-1, 41 KOs) in April 2019 to avenge a majority-decision defeat to the strong Thai southpaw 14 months earlier.
A rejuvenated Gonzalez dropped Kal Yafai twice and stopped the previously unbeaten Brit in the ninth round of his last fight, February 29 in Frisco, Texas. Gonzalez won the WBA’s world 115-pound crown from Yafai (26-1, 15 KOs) in a fight DAZN streamed from Ford Center at The Star, the Dallas Cowboys’ training facility.
If the same money isn’t available from DAZN to put Estrada-Gonzalez back together once DAZN starts streaming fights again, Gonzalez-Franco would be a makeable alternative because Franco is represented by Golden Boy Promotions, which also is one of DAZN’s partners.
“That’s my dream fight,” Franco said of facing Gonzalez. “That’s the fight that I’ve wanted for a long time already. That would be fireworks. That would be ‘Fight of the Year.’ You know, that’d be a great fight. That’s the dream fight. That’s what I’m looking forward to.”
The WBA elevated Gonzalez to the status of “super” champion at 115 pounds once he beat Yafai, who was its world champion. The WBA also promoted Moloney from interim champion to world champion in the super flyweight division.
Oddsmakers have installed the 29-year-old Moloney as a 9-1 favorite to defeat Franco, the WBA’s 12th-ranked contender for his title. The Moloney-Franco fight will headline ESPN’s five-fight broadcast Tuesday night from MGM Grand Conference Center (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.