MOLONEY VOWS TO PUNISH FRANCO
Andrew Moloney wants a fair shake of the sauce bottle as he seeks revenge, writes Jamie Pandaram
ANDREW Moloney has declared rival Joshua Franco is “nervous” ahead of their world title rematch this weekend, knowing he was being outgunned by the Australian in the previous encounter before the controversial stoppage.
Moloney (21-1, 14KO) is in Tulsa, Oklahoma, looking to avenge the no-contest nine months ago that robbed him of regaining the WBA world super-flyweight title.
Franco (17-1-2, 8KO) defeated Moloney for the belt in June last year by the narrowest of margins; 114-113, 114-113, 115-112 on the cards, before the infamous rematch in Las Vegas that was halted after two rounds due to Franco’s eye injury.
Replays showed the injury was caused by a punch, yet officials ruled it was an accidental headbutt, allowing Franco to keep the belt due to the no-contest, while Moloney had dominated to that point.
“I think he’ll be a bit nervous this fight because he saw how good I was in that second fight, he was looking past me in that second fight and thinking he was going to walk straight through me,” Moloney said.
“So he got a bit of a shock in that second fight, firstly how
well I came out, but also I don’t think he respected my power at all after the first fight.
“I know he knows that it was the punch that did the damage, I’m sure he’ll be more cautious of my power this time around.”
Moloney revealed he was “on fire” in his preparation and was supremely confident of defeating Franco on Sunday (AEST), having gone months without seeing his wife and young boy.
“It’s really difficult to be away from my family for such long amounts of time, but it is beneficial for me to be away from them and just focus 100 per cent on the fight,” he said.
“We’ve had a great camp over here. I came here already in great condition. We had had a great camp in Australia, stayed in the gym the whole
nine months, had some great sparring there before coming here.
“We’ve had four weeks in Vegas where we’ve had sparring partners staying with us. They’ve been watching footage of Franco and imitating him in the sparring sessions.
“It’s really given me an opportunity to have no distractions and focus 100 per cent on this fight and making sure I get the job done.
“I’ve been on fire in the gym. I’ve been performing really well. If I can perform on fight night how I have been in the gym, I’m very confident I’ll come home with that win.”
Moloney is desperately hoping to avoid another controversy in this third fight between the pair.
“All I can ask for this time around is a fair shake, fair judging, fair refereeing, and I’ll do the job in the ring,” he said.
“I believe it’s basically going to be a continuation of those two rounds from the second fight and my plan is to dominate the fight from start to finish – however long it goes.”
Moloney vs Franco 3 will be shown live on Main Event payper-view on Sunday from noon ($29.95).