“The Road Warrior” Jason Moloney Defends Title in Japan
Jason Moloney, the WBO bantamweight champion, is set to defend his title against Yoshiki Takei on the undercard of a historic event at the Tokyo Dome on Monday night (May 6). Moloney, known as the “Road Warrior,” has a proven willingness to fight the best and travel the world to do so.
“This is a huge opportunity, a huge platform for me to perform and to progress in my career and the legacy I want to create for myself as a fighter, and I’m just excited for the opportunity,” said the 33-year-old champion, who has a 27-2 record with 19 knockouts.
Moloney has boxed in the United States, Canada, and most recently defended his title in Quebec, embracing the “Road Warrior” label and preferring to take on the toughest challenges rather than stay home and pick easy defenses.
“I’m about getting the absolute most out of myself and my career, and taking the hardest fights and the biggest opportunities I can. To come into his backyard and keep fighting on the road has its challenges, but it’s something I’m pretty comfortable with.”
Challenger Yoshiki Takei, a southpaw and former kickboxer, is just 8-0 as a professional, but Moloney respects his background in combat sports.
“He’s still gone there and fought on the world level and he’s a former world champion as a kickboxer and no doubt fought on the world stage in front of big crowds, so that’s all experience you have to give him credit for.”
Moloney has his own ambitions, including the goal of headlining a double world title show with his twin brother, Andrew, who fights for the WBC interim junior bantamweight belt next weekend.
“Definitely me and my brother headlining a double world title show with us both as champions is on the bucket list, and I’d love to have some fights in Australia and get the whole country behind me fighting Down Under,” he said.
The Moloneys are part of the current Australian “Golden Era” of boxing, alongside fighters like George Kambosos, Jai Opetaia, and Tim Tszyu. Jason Moloney is hopeful that his success can help grow the sport of boxing in his home country of Australia.
“It’s always been something that’s important to me, is to help the sport of boxing grow in Australia. And I know the way it grows is with success and people like following a winner, and the only way we can put on the big events and get the country behind us is by winning big fights and putting on big shows in Australia.”
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