‘They tried to rob him’: Jason Moloney beats Vincent Astrolabio to win WBO World Bantamweight title

Australian identical twins could both hold world titles within a week as Jason Moloney overcomes crowd, poor judging and a Filipino brawler to win WBO title.

Jason Moloney celebrates after defeating Vincent Astrolabio for the WBO bantamweight title. Picture: Getty Images

You get in the ring. It’s make or break. Now or never. You fit enough? Tough enough? Swift enough? Smart enough? Strong enough? Skilful enough? Brave enough? Good enough? You fracture your hand. Suck it up. Jab, jab, jab. Keep jabbing. Circling. Bobbing. Weaving. Blocking. Lose again and you’ll view yourself for all your living days as a good-for-nothin’ failure.

There’s no proving ground for courage like a boxing ring. Jason Moloney’s WBO bantamweight triumph over Filipino slugger Vincent Astrolabio was all heart and soul and rat-cunning and pugilistic IQ because inside his right glove on Sunday was a broken hand. A 16,000-strong crowd at northern California’s Stockton Centre booed and the judges tried to rip him off but they could tell their stories walking, as could Astrolabio, because after two failed attempts to become world champion, knowing this was his last shot, the 32-year-old Moloney finally had his moment of triumph.

Jason Moloney roars as his hand is raised in victory. Picture: Getty Images

One judge had it 114-114. Absurd. Rort was beckoning. ESPN ringside analyst Timothy Bradley, an ex-world champ, said in commentary, “Huh?” The other two judges went 115-113 and 116-112 to Moloney. “They tried to rob him,” Bradley said. Moloney roared when the verdict was announced. He raised an exhausted arm, hooked his brand-spankin’ title strap over his shoulder and wrapped himself in an Australian flag. “I thought I won it going away,” he said. “But all that matters is the victory. And now I have this belt for the rest of my life.”

This is arguably the most brilliant and basic and demanding and rewarding and devastating sport of all, this one, and Moloney was headed in one of two directions in San Fran. Both would define his career. It was either the end of the road for him as a world title contender or he could step into a whole new era of prestige fights. Good enough? He was.

He repeatedly raised his fists, raised his voice, raised someone’s attention to get him an ambulance and raised the incredible prospect of identical twin Australian boxers winning near-identical world titles on consecutive weekends in the United States.

Andrew Moloney fights for the WBO junior bantamweight belt against Japan’s undefeated Junto Nakatini in Las Vegas on Sunday. The one-two punch is halfway home. Australian sporting twins haven’t had them this well since Steve and Mark Waugh made hundreds against England at The Oval in 2001.

“My lifelong dream,” was Moloney’s pre-fight description of the world title. “This means everything to me. I’ve been boxing for nearly 20 years now and chasing this one dream of becoming champion of the world. It’s something I think about every single day of my life. This is a must win for me.”

He said in San Francisco: “I broke my hand in the third or fourth round. It hurt every time I threw it. But I knew this was my last chance to make my dream come true. This is half the job done for Team Moloney. Next week, Andrew will join me as champion of the world.”

Astrolabio’s first mistake was to say he’d annihilate Moloney like “a baby kangaroo”. As Moloney said, you don’t want to mess with kangaroos, babies included. Have you seen those things?

The Filipino favourite threw hooks, uppercuts, kitchen sinks, chairs, tables and everything at his disposal. He couldn’t lay a decent glove on Moloney, who kept going jab, jab, jab, landing a whopping 93 of them, evading danger, avoiding defeat, sparing himself a lifetime of regret.

Speaking to The Courier-Mail’s Peter Badel from hospital, Moloney said: “I can’t believe I’ve done it. I’m a champion of the world. It hasn’t quite sunk in because I’m in a world of pain. I’ve just arrived at the hospital here to get my hand fixed. It’s third-time lucky. It’s incredible. To know I’m a world champion, I am so relieved. If I didn’t win this fight, I feel like I would never have got this opportunity again and for the rest of my life I would have felt like a failure and been devastated.”

He added: “I hit him with a good right hand in round three or four and straight away I thought, ‘I’ve broken my hand.’ It was very painful but I didn’t tell my corner. Every time I threw my right hand, if I connected, it sent excruciating pain through my whole arm, but I tried to not show him I was hurt. From that point on, I had to pick my moments and I adapted my style to use my jab and movement. I thought I won comfortably and I’m glad the judges gave me the decision.

“If he got the decision, it would have torn me apart. It’s been a long hard road. I feel like there’s so much pressure off my shoulders. I’ve achieved this dream after 20 years. I’d love to bring a big fight Down Under and headline and get the whole country behind me.”

Top Rank’s Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum has promised a massive fight night in Australia if the Bruise Brothers become world champions. Andrew lost a punishing WBA super flyweight title defence in 2020, suffering two perforated ear drums, a broken nose and cuts inside his mouth and an eyeball. Here he goes again. Same deal as Jason’s. You get in the ring. It’s make or break. Now or never. You fit enough? Tough enough? Swift enough? Smart enough? Strong enough? Skilful enough? Brave enough? Good enough?