Moloney vs Sanchez Prediction: A Moloney Masterpiece

While some might believe that the bout for the WBO World Bantamweight title on this weekend's Beterbiev vs Smith card should be a cakewalk for the champion, those people may be thinking different by the end of this Moloney vs Sanchez prediction. 

There's no question that Australia's Jason Moloney is deserving of his respect, and has had to square off against some of the world's best boxers in order to earn his WBO belt. Yet, his 26 year old challenger Saul Sanchez is on a rapid ascent toward greatness, and seems certain that he'll emerge from the ring with a belt wrapped around his waist. 

Our Jason Moloney vs Saul Sanchez prediction should help give you a better idea of whether his wish will be granted on Saturday. 

Beterbiev vs Smith: Moloney vs Sanchez Prediction

Jason Moloney Preview

The 33 year old WBO World Bantamweight champion Jason “Mayhem” Moloney (26-2 professional record with 19 KO's) has steadily improved across his career, to the point where some believe he's the best world's best 118 pound boxer. While the two losses on his record don't help his case in that regard, one of those was a split decision loss in a fight that many believed he won, and the other was against Naoya Inoue — who we believe is the pound for pound best boxer in the world. So there's no shame in losing to him.

Since that Inoue loss in 2020, Moloney has rattled off five straight victories against elite opponents. However, it was Moloney's most recent fight against Vincent Astrolabio, where he won the WBO World title, that left us impressed. 

That title fight showed that, while Moloney's head movement isn't the greatest, he does an excellent job of deflecting punches that mitigate any massive damage. Moloney also has a lightning fast jab that no opponent (aside from Inoue) has managed to get past at this point in Moloney's career. 

Our Moloney vs Sanchez prediction is that if Moloney can negate the Sanchez's punches, live and die with his jab, find openings to the body throughout the bout, and most of all, let his superior experience be the difference maker, he should be able to defend his belt and prove why he's a favorite this weekend.

Saul Sanchez Preview

The 26 year old American Saul “The Beast” Sanchez (20-2 professional record with 12 KO's) is looking to secure the WBO bantamweight belt this weekend — and appears very confident that he'll be able to do so. 

While Sanchez has come up short twice in his professional career, some of the knockouts he has produced in recent fights show that his power is still developing, and could very well incite more devastation come Saturday. 

Yet, while an obvious Moloney vs Sanchez prediction is that Sanchez will be the more powerful puncher out of the two this weekend, Moloney's aforementioned defensive excellence should make it more difficult for Sanchez to find the mark. And considering that Sanchez tends to fade a bit in the later rounds, he'd be wise not to tire himself out early on, searching for a knockout that may never come. 

That being said, showing caution isn't what has gotten Sanchez to this WBO title fight. And his best chance for a victory would probably be to knock Moloney out in the earlier rounds — so why not come out of the gates swinging? It could help him defy the odds as the underdog.  

Jason Moloney vs Saul Sanchez: A Thrilling Moloney Victory

Our official Moloney vs Sanchez prediction is that Jason Moloney will win by points — which is currently available at -120. 

Both Jason Moloney and Saul Sanchez are excellent boxers, and we wouldn't be overly surprised if Sanchez is able to produce a massive upset this weekend. But we believe the biggest difference between these two fighters is Moloney's advantage in experience.

The Australian veteran has been in the spotlight many times before, and knows how to best conduct himself and conserve his energy in the ring. For Sanchez, this is the biggest fight of his life. How will his adrenaline react when he enters the ring? Given that he has been known to tire later on in fights, will that slow him down and leave him susceptible to Moloney's world-class jab in the later rounds? We believe so. For that reason, taking the Over 10.5 rounds (available at -260) would be a wise bet. 

Although if you're keen on Sanchez, his best chance to win in our opinion on this Beterbiev vs Smith card is via knockout — which you can grab right now for +550. Sanchez has shown impressive power of late, and could show that some more on Saturday.

We have an excellent set of fights in store on Saturday in Quebec, Canada. There have been some massive upsets in boxing over the last few months — which is why no fight on this card is worth missing.