Aussie boxers Andrew and Jason Moloney reveals targets in quest to become world champions

Being stuck in a Sydney hotel away from family for the last two weeks after a disappointing US trip has been extra tough to handle for Andrew Moloney.

CATOOSA, OKLAHOMA - AUGUST 14: Andrew Moloney (L) and Joshua Franco (R) exchange punches during their fight for the WBA super flyweight championship at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa on August 14, 2021 in Catoosa, Oklahoma. (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)

Andrew Moloney was dreading a third hotel quarantine stint without winning a world title.

But now that he’s only one day away from getting out and seeing his family again, has it been easier than he imagined?

“It’s probably been as tough as I thought it was going to be,” Moloney said.

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Joshua Franco claims victory over Andrew Moloney.

“There’s just so much time to sit here and think about the fight.”

Moloney lost a unanimous decision to Joshua Franco on August 14 for the WBA super-flyweight title in Tulsa, the third of their trilogy of fights after Franco had taken the belt from him in June 2020 before retaining it six months later via a controversial no-decision.

Prior to the recent bout, Moloney revealed how much he was dreading a third straight stint of Covid-enforced quarantine returning from the United States without the title belt , and the experience hasn’t softened for him.

“You kick yourself about what you could’ve done better and the mistakes you made,” said Moloney (21-2, 14KO).

“That’s the hard part. If you went straight home to family, you’d probably keep yourself occupied, but sitting in a room with nothing to do, it leaves a lot of time to think about what could’ve been.”

Moloney and Franco have got to know each other pretty well over the past 12 months.

It has been smoother for his twin brother, Jason, who recorded an impressive victory against top contender Josh Greer on the Moloney-Franco 3 undercard and is rooming with Andrew in the Sydney hotel.

“We’ve got a balcony, we’ve been getting in a workout every morning, watching a few movies,” said Jason, who has also been reading Zero Negativity, a book by SAS Australia trainer Ant Middleton.

“You get by, but it’s a long time away from the family.

“I want to fight for a world title as soon as possible. I’ve fought for two world titles now and unfortunately haven’t been able to get the belt around my waist just yet, but the dream is to become world champion and that’s what I’ve been working hard for, for 18 years now.”

Jason Moloney (22-2, 18KO) has only lost to world champion Naoya Inoue and former champion Emmanuel Rodriguez.

The Moloney twins can’t wait to reunite with family.

He now has his sights set on a legend from the Philippines, WBC champion Nonito Donaire, or WBO champion John Riel Casamero.

“If I can get a crack at Nonito Donaire or John Riel Casamero, they’re both fights I’m really confident I can win,” Jason Moloney said.

“I’m hoping to get that opportunity as soon as possible and make sure I make it third time lucky and get that belt around my waist.

“Even before I turned professional, Donaire would’ve been among the top five fighters for myself, I always enjoyed watching him fight.

“I’ve sparred Donaire on two different occasions in America, obviously sparring and fighting are very different, but I walked away from those sparring sessions confident with how I handled him.

The Moloney brothers with their families.

“Even though I’ve got an enormous amount of respect for Donaire, it’s a fight I really believe I can win. Beating a future hall-of-famer and a legend of the sport would just do such great things for my career.

“If I can’t get either fighter by the end of this year, I want to fight another tough top five opponent and get myself into that mandatory position if I can, so they’ve got no choice but to fight me.

“We want to fight in Melbourne, if we can pull it off it will be amazing because we haven’t fought in Australia in nearly two years.”

Andrew is targeting the winner of the WBO super-flyweight title between four-division champion Kazuto Ioka (26-2, 15KO) and Francisco Rodriguez (34-4-1, 24KO), who fight in Japan on Wednesday (September 1).

“I only want to fight the best,” Andrew Moloney said.

“I am really determined to get a win before the end of the year and make up for this.”

‘I basically had a deformed hand’: KO king’s secret battle

Looking more machine than man, this is the hand of undefeated boxer Jai Opetaia.

Held together by four metal pins, Opetaia’s hand was only fixed by delicate surgery 10 months ago.

For the five years prior, he’d simply gritted his teeth and punched rivals’ faces with it while it was broken. And never lost.

Jai Opetaia has his eyes on a world title bout.

“It happened in my third professional fight,” Opetaia said, referring to his clash against Randall Rayment in November 2015.

“It was a six-rounder, and I injured it in the second round. Two hairline fractures in my left hand.

“The last two rounds, I couldn’t close my hand, couldn’t squeeze the glove. I just had to fight with one hand.”

He won a unanimous decision, but should have had surgery immediately.

“The thing is, I didn’t have a promoter back then, and the surgery costs $12,000, so being able to afford that was pretty much impossible for me,” Opetaia said.

The Central Coast fighter chose to ignore the injury, and just keep fighting.

“You learn to grow accustomed to the pain, I forgot what it was like not to have a sore hand going into a fight,” he said.

Opetaia has an enviable knockout record.

“I basically had a deformed hand, it was huge.

“It was an added stress before every fight. I would organise sparring, either 10 or 12 rounds, but I’d injure it in the fourth or fifth round and would have to stop sparring because it was too sore.

“So I went in to all these fights without having done the right amount of sparring, and you add that onto the general worry about the fight itself, making weight, it was a really tough mental obstacle to overcome.”

It’s extraordinary that Opetaia – a southpaw whose power punch comes from his left hand – has been able to knock out 15 opponents with fractured bones.

After stopping the rugged Ben Kelleher in October last year to move his record to 20-0 (16KO), Opetaia and his team finally bit the bullet and scheduled surgery.

“When they went in, they told me that all the cartilage between my metacarpal bones had worn off, so it was just bone on bone, that was causing the pain,” Opetaia said.

“They had to shave the bone down, then put the pins in.”

His left hand has pins to hold it together.

Since then, Opetaia has endured a frustrating rehabilitation process while countrymen Justis Huni, Tim Tszyu and twins Andrew and Jason Moloney have fought major bouts here and abroad.

But in a stunning twist of fate, Opetaia could be confirmed for a world title shot in his next bout.

By Monday, Opetaia will know whether he facing IBF champion Mairis Briedis (21-1, 19KO) for the title, or England’s Chris Billam-Smith (13-1, 10KO) for the title eliminator.

Briedis had indicated he would be moving up the heavyweight division , but has been ordered to defend his cruiserweight championship belt against mandatory challenger Michal Cieslak (21-1, 15KO), however the Polish contender has been caught in a war between rival managers and an injunction has been imposed on his next bout.

If Cieslak can’t resolve his situation by this weekend, the IBF has decided they will order Briedis vs Opetaia for the title by Monday.

“It has been a rocky road, but this is my time now,” Opetaia said.

“I don’t care who is in front of me, if I prepare 100 per cent to the best of my ability, I will defeat anyone, I know that.

Opetaia (right) has scored 15 knock-outs with a broken hand. Picture: AAP

“These guys like Briedis and Cieslak, I respect what they’ve done, they’re great fighters, but they’ve been there a while, I am the up-and-comer and now my time is here.

“It’s been frustrating, but this is my journey. And through it all, I always knew one day I would get here, and fight for a world title.”

Whether it be a title shot against Briedis or an eliminator against Billam-Smith, in either November or December, Opetaia is resigned to having to fight overseas after Australia’s sprawling Covid outbreak.

“It is my dream to bring these big fights here, fight for a world title in Australia in my home country, but it doesn’t look like that can happen this year,’ he said.

“But that’s OK, I will win the world title and bring it back home and defend it here, and then win more world titles.

“I am just so hungry, so excited to get back in that ring.

“I had seven months in a cast, I couldn’t hold a cup of coffee.

Opetaia is ready to make his mark on world boxing.

“Boxing was my life, I trained every day. Then to have that taken away, to know that it can possibly be the end, makes you want it even more and drives you.

“These fights coming up for me, we’re not fighting for Australian titles or regional titles anymore. We are fighting for world titles, so I’ve lifted the tempo and we’re training like a world champion.

“I’m fully recovered, I’m hitting harder than ever.

“So let them know, I’m coming.”