MOLONEY HITS RESET ON WORLD TITLE BID
BANTAMWEIGHT sensation Jason Moloney is back in the world title hunt.
Moloney, the world No.3, improved his record to 18 wins in 19 fights after stopping Filipino Cris Paulino in Tweed Heads on Saturday night.
The scheduled 10-round fight ended in Round 5 after Paulino suffered a bad cut.
Moloney’s only defeat has come in a thrilling and controversial points loss to Puerto Rico’s IBF world champ Emmanuel Rodriguez in Florida last October.
“It felt great to be back in the ring,’’ said the heavyhitting 28-year-old from Kingscliff, who retained his WBA Oceania title.
“It’s unfortunate that the fight had to be stopped due to a large cut.
“I felt things were really starting to heat up and I was coming home strong.
“Still it was great to get a win under the belt and start my charge towards another world title shot.’’
A week earlier, Moloney’s twin brother Andrew scored a stunning eighth-round KO over world’s No.2 flyweight contender Miguel Gonzalez in Chile.
On the Tweed undercard, world-rated superfeatherweight Billel Dib scored an eight-round stoppage over another Filipino Rey Juntilla.
In Brisbane, welterweight Ben Kite scored the biggest win of his career with a decision over Jeff Horn sparring partner Mick Whitehead on Saturday night to take the Australasian championship.