It was tabbed as Moloney week. Twin brothers Jason and Andrew Moloney out of Australia were given their own cards to headline just two days apart from one another at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
But what began as a dream come true, turned into a nightmare when Andrew’s WBA Super Bantamweight title reign was truncated by Joshua Franco.
Now, it was up to Jason to salvage the family name, and he did just that.
Jason Moloney (21-1, 18 KOs) was acrimonious as he watched his brother’s defeat on Tuesday night, and took out his frustrations on Leonardo Baez (18-3, 9 KOs).
There were no feel-out rounds or touching of gloves from either man. Instead, they threw heavy leather at one another from the moment the bell rang.
Baez seemed to have everything working in his favor. He carried a four-inch height advantage to go along with a three inch reach advantage over his man. But he quickly found out that using those advantages were impossible.
Moloney held his hands up high and bullied his way inside. From there, he banged away at the body of his man, while his brother Andrew shook his head in approval from his corner.
Baez didn’t make things easy for him though, fighting fire with fire as he landed a few shots of his own on the inside. Yet, as the contest went on, the success he managed to have during the first few rounds quickly went away.
The action was dictated by Moloney as the non-stop body punches and occasional shots to the head took their toll.
As Baez walked to his corner at the end of the seventh round, he slumped into his chair. His body language was that of a defeated fighter as his trainer worked to clean the blood off his face. The instructions came in loud and clear, but he looked dejected.
Shortly after the referee signaled for both to leave their respective corners to begin the eighth, Moloney bounced up as if to say he had plenty left in the tank. Baez on the other hand just sat still.
He then gave a signal to the referee that he was done for the night.
The win was immediately tallied on the record of Jason Moloney, but as his twin brother rose his hands in approval, it was as though Andrew had won on the night as well.
Final Grade For Jason Moloney: A
Leonardo Baez was not a world beater, even with six-straight wins under his belt.
He came into the contest as a decided underdog and the contest played out as such. But with Jason watching his twin brother Andrew get bloodied and beaten just two nights prior, he made a statement of his own as he gave Baez the same sort of treatment.
With a top-five ranking in the Bantamweight division, Jason Moloney proved exactly why he’s on the road to another title shot.
