Australian Jason Moloney has produced a slick performance to win a world boxing title at his third attempt with a majority points win over Filipino Vincent Astrolabio in Stockton, California.
The 32-year-old Melburnian dominated the fight for the vacant WBO bantamweight title with his left jab and movement, rarely allowing his power-punching opponent to land anything significant.
Moloney appeared to have won the fight comfortably but one judge scored the bout 114-114, though the other two had him ahead 115-113 and 116-112.
On the odd occasion Astrolabio landed, Moloney did a great job of tying him up. The Filipino was rarely able to back up Moloney, who fought a smart, disciplined fight.
In two previous world title attempts, Moloney lost a contentious split decision to IBF champion Emmanuel Rodriguez in 2018 and was stopped in seven rounds by IBF and WBA title holder Naoya Inoue in 2020.
Undisputed champion Inoue has moved up a division, leaving his titles vacant. Moloney has won his last five fights since the loss to Inoue to improve to 26-2.
Astrolabio dropped to 18-4 after suffering his first loss in seven fights.
Moloney’s twin brother Andrew will fight Japan’s Junto Nakatani in Las Vegas next weekend for the vacant WBO flyweight title.
-AAP
