By Ian S Palmer
There’s a good world title fight scheduled for this Saturday, Nov. 14 as Andrew Moloney of Australia will attempt to reclaim the WBA Junior Bantamweight (Super Flyweight) crown from Joshua Franco of San Antonio, Texas. The 12-rounder from the bubble at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas can be seen live in America on ESPN and ESPN Deportes while fans in Canada can catch it on TSN and those in the UK can view it on Premier Sports. This is a rematch of their brawl at the same venue in June in which Franco won a unanimous decision by scores of 114-113, 114-113 and 115-12 and Moloney suffered two perforated ear drums.
Franco enters the ring with a mark of 17-1-2 with 8 Kos and is unbeaten in his last six outings. He’s boxed 123 rounds since turning pro in 2015 after a decent amateur career and has also won the WBA International Bantamweight and NABF Bantamweight Titles since then. He’s best known for his three straight fights with Oscar Negrete in 2018/19 in which he earned a 10-round split decision and fought to two 10-round draws.
Franco’s lone loss came in March, 2018 when he was stopped by Lucas Leone in the ninth round. He stands 5-feet-5-inches tall with a 67-inch reach and has a current knockout ratio of 40 per cent. The 25-year-old Franco’s also beaten the likes of Felipe Rivas, Carlos Maldonado, Isao Gonzalo Carranza and Oscar Mojica. Franco has skills, speed, underrated power and above all, is quite entertaining in the ring.
As for Moloney, the 29-year-old native of Mitcham enters the ring with a mark of 21-1 with 14 Kos. He’s boxed 130 rounds since his pro debut in 2014 and has quite a bit of power with a current knockout ratio of 63.6 per cent. He had won four straight fights by stoppage until running into Franco five months, and is the same height as his opponent at 5-feet-5-inches but with a wingspan of 65 inches he gives up two inches in reach.
Since turning pro, Moloney has also captured several Australian, Oceania and Commonwealth belts in the bantamweight and junior bantamweight divisions. Moloney was hoping to land a shot with Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez to unite their titles but Franco derailed those plans. So far, Moloney’s biggest wins have been against the likes of Miguel Gonzalez, Selemani Bangaiza, Luis Concepcion, Rene Dacquel, Aramis Solis and Raymond Tabugon.
Prediction…
The first fight between these two was one of the best of the year with plenty of punches thrown at a high level of speed. Moloney was dropped in the 11th round and with him losing by a single point on two of the judges’ scorecards that was the difference between him losing and retaining his title. I have a feeling this bout will be a carbon copy of the first one, meaning it’ll be a treat for the fans, and is a tossup. Either boxer can win this but if Moloney can remain on his feet and show that he’s learned from the first meeting I’ll go with him.
