Andrew Moloney fulfills his World Championship dream and is now aiming for a unification fight against Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez
Andrew Moloney burst into tears of joy after the announcement of his majority decision victory over IBF world super flyweight champion Willibaldo Garcia. The title fight took place yesterday at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Japan.
Moloney (29-4, 18 knockouts) showed a strong fighting performance against the always unpredictable Garcia (23-7-2, 13 knockouts). However, the Australian relied on the more precise actions and better timing to secure victory in a hard-fought world championship duel.
The judges scored the fight 113-115, 114-114 and 113-115 in Moloney’s favor. After the verdict was announced, the new world champion sank to his knees in joy. Tears flowed as he climbed onto the ring ropes to thank his fans who had traveled with him. For Moloney, it was the reward after a difficult phase full of setbacks inside and outside the ring.
It was a close title fight in which neither boxer was prepared to concede. The scoring fairly reflected the course of the fight. Moloney gained a slight advantage over the course of the twelve rounds with his greater composure and ring intelligence and prevailed in a duel that went the full distance.
With his title win, Moloney joins Pound-for-Pound star Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez as world champion at the 115-pound limit. The US-American currently holds the WBA, WBC and Ring Magazine super flyweight titles. However, Rodriguez will make his debut at bantamweight next week against Antonio Vargas and fight for the WBA world title.
“It was a long and hard road to this world title, but we finally did it,” said Moloney in an interview after the fight.
“I had to get everything out of me again on the last lap. We managed it. I couldn’t be happier.
“This title means everything to me. I have dedicated my whole life to this goal of becoming world champion. I would love to fight Bam for the undisputed world championship. It’s the biggest prize in boxing.”