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Jason Moloney Wins, Moloneys Go 1-2 in America; Plus, More Fights on TONIGHT

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Jason Moloney Wins, Moloneys Go 1-2 in America; Plus, More Fights on TONIGHT
Mikey Williams

LAS VEGAS (June 25, 2020) — Two days after bantamweight contender Jason Moloney watched his identical twin brother, Andrew, lose his super flyweight world title, he evened the Las Vegas score. Jason Moloney defeated Leonardo Baez by TKO Thursday evening after Baez's corner stopped the bout following the conclusion of the seventh round.

Moloney (21-1, 18 KOs) has won four in a row since an October 2018 split decision loss to Emmanuel Rodriguez for the IBF bantamweight world title. Currently ranked in the top five by all of the major sanctioning organizations, title shot number two may be around the corner.

Baez (18-3, 9 KOs), from Mexicali, Mexico, had won six in a row and was stopped for the first time since 2016.

At the time of the stoppage, all three judges had Moloney ahead (69-64 2x and 68-65).

Jason showed a larger skill set than Baez and got that stoppage win, so the twins can go back home with at least mixed feelings. (Mikey Williams photos for Top Rank)

“That was the greatest moment of my career. It was tough watching my brother the other night, but I knew I had a job to do,” Moloney said. “Thank you to my team. I sacrificed so much for six weeks, leaving my fiancée and my baby. I’m just over the moon.

“My brother told me he loved me and that he was proud of me. He’ll be back better than ever. Trust me.”

Nova Slips Past Sparrow

Abraham Nova (19-0, 14 KOs) was faced with the toughest test of his career in Avery Sparrow (10-2, 3 KOs), a savvy veteran schooled in the gyms of Philadelphia.

In a mostly tactical 10-round junior lightweight bout, Nova kept his unbeaten record intact with a unanimous decision by scores of 99-91, 97-93 and 96-94. Nova is ranked in the top 10 by two of the major sanctioning organizations and hopes a world title shot is in his near future.

Twitter had quite the debate about this fight, because on ESPN, analyst Tim Bradley raved about Sparrow's work. The judges didn't–Nova snagged the W against a defensively oriented type.

Sparrow was slippery in there and tough to hit. I had to be patient and search for my openings. In the last few rounds, I began to time him, and that won me the fight,” Nova said. “Listen, this was a learning experience. I’ll be ready for the top guys in the 130-pound division very, very soon.”

— Rising featherweight prospect Orlando Gonzalez (15-0, 10 KOs) scored a pair of knockdowns, but Luis Porozo (15-3, 8 KOs) made him work for all eight rounds. Gonzalez ultimately prevailed via unanimous decisions by scores 76-74 and 77-73 2x, as the knockdowns in the second and seventh rounds sealed Porozo's fate.

— Welterweights Vlad Panin (8-1, 4 KOs; below) and Benjamin Whitaker (13-4, 3 KOs) fought a close one for six rounds, but Panin received the majority decision nod by scores of 57-57 and 58-56 2x.

—In a six-round welterweight battle, Reymond Yanong (11-5-1, 9 KOs) outpointed Clay “3rd Degree” Burns (9-8-2 4 KOs) via split decision. Yanong closed the fight strong and is back in the win column after being knocked out in his last fight.

— Kingsley Ibeh (4-1, 4 KOs) knocked out Waldo Cortes (5-3, 2 KOs) in the fourth round of a heavyweight rumble. It was a rematch of a 2019 bout that Cortes won via split decision.

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ALSO….Boxing is back on ESPN tonight (Saturday, June 27, from Mexico):

Founder/editor Michael Woods got addicted to boxing in 1990, when Buster Douglas shocked the world with his demolition of the then-impregnable Mike Tyson. The Brooklyn-based journalist has covered the sport since for ESPN The Magazine, ESPN.com, Bad Left Hook and RING. His journalism career started with NY Newsday in 1999. Michael Woods is also an accomplished blow by blow and color man, having done work for Top Rank, DiBella Entertainment, EPIX, and for Facebook Fightnight Live, since 2017.