Golden Boy Andrew Moloney ready to be crowned world champ
While his world title showdown has been overshadowed by the code-war on the same card between AFL great Barry Hall and rugby league slugger Paul Gallen, Andrew Moloney is focused on realising his dream against Brooklyn’s Elton Dharry.
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COMMONWEALTH Games gold medallist Andrew Moloney is the red-hot favourite to be crowned Australia’s newest world boxing champion next week.
And while his showdown with Brooklyn’s Elton Dharry in Melbourne has been overshadowed by the code-war on the same card between AFL great Barry Hall and rugby league slugger, Paul Gallen, Moloney has not lost focus on realising a dream that started 17 years ago.
Moloney kept chasing a boxing career despite losing his first seven amateur fights and he carries that determination into the biggest fight of his life.
The 28-year-old is the No. 1 contender for the world super-flyweight (52.5kg) title and is unbeaten in 20 pro fights including a stoppage over Panama’s former world champ Luis Concepcion and Chile’s red-hot Miguel Gonzalez.
He fights the Ghana-born Dharry for the interim WBA title at Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena on Friday week and is at almost unbackable odds to take the belt.
Twin brother Jason Moloney, who went within a whisker of winning the world bantamweight title last year in Florida, will fight Nicaragua’s world No. 10 Dixon Flores on the same card and is expected to challenge for another world title next February.
The brothers have been slugging away in training at their Cudgen base in northern NSW beside Hall as he prepares to make his mark in his pro debut against one of the hardest punchers in the country.
Moloney is ready for a dangerous opponent in Dharry, who is the No. 6 contender for the world title, and is fully confident he and Jason will be the first Australian brothers to win world boxing championships.
``Dharry is a little bigger than me physically and he has the experience of 30 pro fights,’’ Moloney said. ``He’s based at the famous Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn and he is sparring big name fighters all the time.
``But I’ve been working really hard with Jason and some other sparring partners including Andres Campos from Chile and Bruno Tarimo from Tanzania and nothing’s going to stop me now.
``I’m really impressed with Barry Hall’s preparation as well. I think he will shock a lot of people with his boxing talent.’’
Originally published as Golden Boy Andrew Moloney ready to be crowned world champ