Jason Moloney bashes and stops Leonardo Baez in seven rounds
Jason Moloney, one-half of Australia’s Moloney twins, was determined to put the brothers in the win column during their time in the states.
Bantamweight boxer Jason Moloney (21-1, 18 KOs) knows the disappointment of losing a world title fight. On Thursday, June 25, two days after his twin brother Andrew dropped his WBA super flyweight title, Jason decided it was time to win one for the Moloney twins when he fought Leonardo Baez (18-2, 9 KOs) during the main event of Top Rank’s card on ESPN.
Andrew lost for the first time against Joshua Franco in a close unanimous decision on the cards, but he was physically brutalized. He spent the night in the hospital after rupturing both eardrums. Fighting in the U.S. out of Australia, Jason was determined not to let the Moloney’s go 0-2 during their time in the states.
Moloney’s lone loss on his record came against Emmanuel Rodriguez in 2018 for the IBF bantamweight title. He fought well but came up short, so he can sympathize with his brother Andrew’s recent defeat. Moloney needed a win against Baez to take a step towards another title shot.
In round 1, Baez made Moloney work. The two fought at close quarters, and Baez sent looping power-punches to Moloney’s body. Moloney fought well on the inside and proved to be the more intelligent boxer throughout the night.
Baez had his best round of the fight in round 2. He battered Moloney around the ring and forced him to retreat. Moloney didn’t fight well on his backfoot and stood his ground towards the later portions of the round, which improved his fortunes.
Jason Moloney refused to lose and bullied Baez around the ring, pounding his body for the entire bout.
From round 3 on, Moloney dusted Baez. Moloney was the first to the punch. Defensively, Moloney made subtle head movements that made Baez miss, and he countered each time. Moloney started to chop the larger Baez down round after round.
Baez’s punch output dropped dramatically in round 5. He was cut inside the right eye in the previous round. When he did let his hands go, the found air and his body language became sloppy.
By round 7, Baez had nothing left. Moloney’s pressure wore Baez down. He had cuts inside both eyes and was doubled over for most of the round as Moloney teed off on his body. Baez made it through the end of the round, but the referee and his corner agreed that he couldn’t continue. It officially goes down as a TKO for Moloney.
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Top Rank’s Moloney twins’ trip to the U.S. met with mixed results. Andrew lost his title but gained valuable experience, and Jason was victorious and furthered his name recognition, reputation, and chances of landing another title shot.
“Nothing was going to stop me tonight,” Moloney declared during the postfight interview.
Andrew still has a bright future ahead of him, but Jason Moloney is the twin whose stock is on the rise.
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