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Andrew Moloney was once on course to defend his version of a junior bantamweight title in Oklahoma prior to the pandemic.
He will now head to the Midwestern state in hope of regaining that very belt.
BoxingScene.com has learned that the third fight between Joshua Franco and Australia’s Moloney will take place August 14 at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The bout will come nearly 14 months after their first meeting and nine months to the day of their controversial rematch last November 14.
Each of the previous two fights between San Antonio’s Franco (17-1-2, 8KOs; 1ND) and Moloney (21-1, 14KOs; 1ND) aired live on ESPN from the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas. Franco prevailed in their first fight, flooring Moloney in the eleventh round en route to claiming a well-earned unanimous decision victory along with the secondary version of the WBA junior bantamweight title.
The outcome ruined the U.S. debut for Moloney, who was previously due to face Mexico’s Israel ‘Jiga’ Gonzalez in a title defense last April 17 at Osage Casino in Tulsa. The show was shut down due to the pandemic, with Moloney’s first fight stateside delayed by more than two months and paired in line with twin brother Jason who fought in Las Vegas two days after Franco-Moloney I.
An immediate rematch was granted, this time with Moloney jumping out to a strong start. By the end of the second round, Franco’s right eye was swollen shut to where he was deemed unfit to continue. The official ruling by referee Russell Mora was that the wound was caused by a headbutt, to which Moloney and Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum vehemently protested. The end of the bout was followed by a 26-minute on-air delay as Nevada officials thoroughly reviewed replays in search of the sequence to cause the initial damage.
The original ruling was upheld, though later met with a formal appeal by Moloney through high-powered boxing attorney Josh Dubin in hopes of having the verdict overturned from a No-Decision to a technical knockout win. The filed appeal came at a time when a third fight was already in the works, with Moloney hoping to enter as the defending titlist rather than the challenger.
No such luck came of the legal battle, as Moloney will simply have to settle for a shot at revenge. He previously held the title for just four months, receiving an upgrade from WBA “interim” to WBA “World” titlist after Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez was named WBA “Super” champion in the aftermath of his ninth-round knockout of Kal Yafai last February.
Franco will attempt the second defense of his title in a bout that will represent the second trilogy in his young career, all in the span of his last seven fights. Prior to the upset win over Moloney, Franco scored a ninth-round knockout of Jose Alejandro Burgos last January. That bout followed a three-fight set with Oscar Negrete, where Franco twice fought to a draw along with a majority decision win mixed in between.
The show will mark the first boxing event to take place at the Tulsa Hard Rock venue in nearly seven years. The last such occasion took place in November 2014 when Felix Diaz outpointed Adrian Granados atop a show presented by Iron Mike Promotions, a promotional joint venture between company namesake ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson and former business partners Garry Jonas and Henry Rivalta although the company has since disbanded.
Top Rank has not yet announced the date or venue for Franco-Moloney III, although the company and ESPN have both gone public with plans to present a boxing show on August 14. Two undercard slots were previously revealed—2016 U.S. Olympian Karlos Balderas, who makes his Top Rank debut; and the pro debut of Nico Ali Walsh, the grandson of the late, legendary former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox