Jason Moloney continues to soundly rebound from what has been the most brutal loss of his career.
The Aussie bantamweight contender notched his second win a row since his stoppage loss at the hands of Naoya Inoue in 2020, beating a game Francisco Javier Pedroza in 10 hard-fought rounds of their bantamweight bout Saturday night at The Hanger in Costa Mesa, California on the undercard of the Mikaela Mayer-Jennifer Han main event.
Judges Rudy Barragan (99-91), Pat Russell (99-91), and Ron Scott Stevens (100-90) all scored the bout for the Melbourne native.
It was far from an easy fight for Moloney, the twin brother of Andrew Moloney. In the first three-to-four rounds, Moloney (23-2, 18 KOs) and Pedroza traded almost on even terms. But Moloney began pulling away starting in the fifth behind an educated pressure offense. Moloney’s commitment to the body changed the complexion of the fight. By the last two rounds, Moloney had Pedroza on his bicycle, sucking air from the bevy of body punches.
To Pedroza’s credit, the Tijuana native never went down.
In the third round, Moloney and Pedroza battled on the inside. Moloney landed the cleaner punches, including a sharp right hand off of a pivot.
In the fifth round, Moloney began to ramp up his offense. He stalked Pedroza around the ring and made it a point to target the body. Pedroza looked slightly uncomfortable with the pressure, but he managed to get in a nice right hand.
Moloney enjoyed a dominant sixth round. Midway through the round, Moloney staggered Pedroza with a right hand along the ropes. Moloney followed up with another accurate right hand, but Pedroza took it well. With 10 seconds left, Moloney tagged his adversary with a two-punch combination.
A spirited seventh round saw both fighters find success on the inside, but Moloney, once again, connected on the cleaner punches.
Moloney continued his pressure in the ninth round, landing to the head and the body. Midway through the round, it was clear that Pedroza was having trouble keeping Moloney off of him. Pedroza began backpedalling and breathing heavily as Moloney charged forward and relentlessly targeted the body. Pedroza looked like he would need to take a knee at several points in the round.
In the 10th and final round, Moloney poured it on with the pressure, although Pedroza managed to make it to the final bell.
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