The undercard for Devin Haney’s Oct. 15 rematch with George Kambosos Jr is starting to form, as Top Rank announced last night that Jason and Andrew Moloney are set for significant matchups on the ESPN+ undercard.
Jason (24-2, 19 KOs), who has posted solid victories over Joshua Greer Jr and Aston Palicte since falling to Naoya Inoue in his second world title bid, faces Nawaphon Kaikanha (56-6-1, 46 KOs). ) in a WBC. end eliminator. Kaikanha’s record is, well, extremely Thai; Aside from knockout wins over compatriots Amnat Ruenroeng and Sonny Boy Jaro, his biggest fight to date was a three-round knockout loss to Juan Hernandez Navarrete in 2017.
The winner would normally get a shot at Inoue, but since “The Monster’s” almost guarantees to vacate and move to 122 if he beats Paul Butler, said winner would most likely fight for the vacant belt, potentially against Naoya’s brother, Takuma, as he sits right behind them in the standings.
“This fight is a final step in achieving my dream and becoming a world champion,” said Jason Moloney. “Nawaphon Kaikanha is a very experienced and capable opponent who has had 58 professional fights and only one loss. To have this fight in Melbourne, at the Rod Laver Arena, in front of all my family and friends, is incredible and motivates me even more. Thank you to my manager, Tony Tolj, Top Rank and everyone involved for making this fight possible. I will seize this opportunity with both hands and earn my chance to become the WBC world champion.”
Since his 0-2 (1 NC) trilogy with Andrew Franco, Andrew (24-2, 16 KO) has been making noise about challenging Kazuto Ioka for the WBO belt and a win over Jimenez (31-9-6, 16 KOs). ) would go a long way toward making that happen. “Meneito” is 29-1-5 since a disastrous professional start and is not far removed from a highly controversial draw against Donnie Nietes in which Jimenez took over down the stretch before being told, apparently in contradiction. with the previous word, that they were fighting for 10 rounds instead of 12.
“I hope that an impressive win over Jimenez will earn me the opportunity to be one of the next world champions,” said Andrew Moloney. “This is exactly the kind of fight I have been waiting for, to show the improvements I have made and that I am ready to be a world champion again. I’m here to give the best performance of my career.”
Olympic bronze medalist David Nyika (4-0, 3 KOs), Hemi Ahio (19-0, 14 KOs) and Amari Jones will also be in action.
