Moloney vs Astrolabio on Saturday has the Mark of an Old-fashioned Dust-Up

Published

2 years ago

May 9, 2023

Moloney=vs-Astrolabio-on-Saturday-has-the-Mark-of-an-Old-fashioned-Dust-Up

This Saturday night in the Stockton Arena in California a fascinating 118lb match will be fought between two of the world’s best bantamweights, Australia’s Jason Moloney, 25-2 and ranked two, and Filipino Vincent Astrolabio, 18-3 and ranked four.

Asrolabio’s rise has been the more meteoric. Clearly talented, it is also true that in 2021 he was very much a preliminary fighter, a supporting act for more storied Filipinos, minimumweight Rene Mark Cuarto among them. In February of 2022 however, Astrolabio got the call he had been waiting for – he was to headline a card out in Dubai, his opponent the former pound-for-pounder and two-time Olympic gold medallist Guillermo Rigondeaux. His purse, rumoured to be around $75,000, was less than a third of what Rigondeaux was set to pocket but still represented a career’s best payday. To maintain such riches, all Astrolabio had to do was win.

This he did, and in style.

Astrolabio came into the fight riding a four-fight knockout streak, a response to his loss out in China to ZongLi He. In truth, Astrolabio probably deserved the nod in that fight, a majority decision that had the smell of hometown cooking if not quite out and out theft. The lesson he learned from his eight-rounder with ZongLi though was not to neglect his body punching. Astrolabio banked early rounds hitting with a right hand to the body and it was a punch he forgot when ZongLi upped the aggression and it probably cost him. Against Rigondeaux, he would not make the same error.

Rigondeaux did his thing, made Astrolabio miss, sometimes by a lot, but the Filipino also turned in a strategic masterpiece. Patient, he also bought pressure. Careful never to throw one punch when two were there to be had, he never got greedy. His mix of touch and power was perfect. Rigondeaux kept waiting as though he expected the same old openings to present themselves, but when they did – and they did – he often found himself out of position or landing a single shot. In the eighth, Astrolabio flashed Rigondeaux with a right-handed punch, but only after repeatedly rattling him with right hands to the head throughout that round. The penny finally seemed to drop for Rigondeaux who won the ninth and tenth but by then it was too late – all three judges had the fight for Astrolabio by virtue of the knockdown (I saw it slightly wider).

His first steps with his newfound status were tentative; he boxed a rusty Nikolai Potapov (now 23-3-1) on a Frank Martin undercard. In fairness, he met the expectation of those of us who had been following his career and exceeded the expectations of many others, sending Potapov to the canvas twice in the very first round, first with a cuffing right hand above the ear and later in the round with a similar counter left. After handing out some brutal treatment in the fourth, Astrolabio found his man with hurtful uppercuts in the fifth and Potapov was down again; matters were settled in the fifth by pressure and a left hook/right uppercut combination. It is worth pointing out that Potapov had never been down as a professional and although stopped once before by long-reigning titlist Omar Narvaez in 2017, this was a corner stoppage. Against Astrolabio a rattled Potapov was sent down four times and heard the ten.

Astrolabio, now twenty-six years old, further developed his body-attack in this fight and his right uppercut is a punch that has come to fruition; furthermore, he clearly impressed an American commentary team (and perhaps audience) who were not that familiar with him – but there is a sense that despite his superb 2022 form, his final confirmation as world-class lies before him. Was Rigondeaux past it? Was Potapov hampered by inactivity? Neither one of these things can be said of Astrolabio’s next opponent.

Moloney is thirty-two, in his fistic prime and highly regarded. The route to divisional kingship lies, for him, through Emmanuel Rodriguez, the current number one and a man who bested him in 2017. This was a close fight and a frustrating one for the Australian, who finished far and away the stronger, winning the ninth through twelfth on my card, but having been cleanly out-boxed in the first half of the fight, it wasn’t enough. It underlines, though, Moloney’s greatest strength: it is unlikely that there is a better conditioned fighter on the planet.

Workrate and conditioning have been the core of what has made Moloney a success since that split loss to Rodriguez as he won eight including five by stoppage. It is true that these wins were bisected by a defeat to the mighty Naoya Inoue, the pugilistic equivalent of being struck by lightning. Still, it is worth noting that when Moloney has stepped up to a level of competition that might be considered higher than Astrolabio’s, he has lost, and that if he were to successfully best Astrolabio, it would represent his biggest, his most important victory.

Moloney spent the first years of the 2020s in the USA, building his name and being battered by Naoya, but in 2022 he returned to Australia for a pair of homecoming fights. The first was against Filipino Aston Palicte (now 28-5-1) who is in possession of neither the quality nor the patience of Astrolabio but does fight with the same sort of punching aggression. It is worth noting then that Moloney timed him on the right uppercut, a shot Astrolabio likes, with a beautiful right hand of his own from which Palicte never recovered. Moloney got him out of there in three – it had previously taken world-class veteran Kazuto Ioka ten. Moloney was heavily favoured, but this was impressive work.

More intriguing in many ways was his most recent fight against the teak-tough Thailander Nawaphon Kaikanha. Kaikanha, now in his early thirties, has boxed one of those fascinating Thai careers heavy on numbers and light on names, but for his 56-2-1 he has victories over former flyweight champion Sony Boy Jaro, and a past-prime version of the storied flyweight beltholder Amnat Ruenroeng. Stopped just once very much against his will back in 2017, Kaikanha, stalking forwards in his Muay Thai stance, was in many ways the perfect foil for Moloney to deploy his fleet-footed, clean-punching style. Alternating between moving to his left, his right, and holding his ground with the proper frequency to create confusion, Moloney also had a fine eye for the right punch, seeking a home for a left to the body and a defence- splitting straight while bringing Kaikanha on to those punches. Moloney is very well balanced and challenges his opponent’s balance with his mobile aggression.

It is clear though that Kaikanha’s heavy hands made Moloney nervous early. Astrolabio has those heavy hands too and he will not get caught following Moloney around the ring. I suspect that Astrolabio will be able to make Moloney fight more often and make him fight when he doesn’t want to, possibly by the ropes. This is the place where the boil for Astrolabio and Moloney begins to intrigue and where the potential fireworks lie. Moloney appears to have a style advantage and also the advantage in quickness, but these were things that were said about both Rigondeaux and Potapov and Astrolabio was not out-sped. Skilled in timing and quick-handed himself in bringing the second punch in behind the first and third behind the second, he, too, remains technically sound under pressure. It is easy to envisage a situation where Astrolabio brings that patient aggression to bear and Moloney finds himself being driven around the ring in an uncontrolled fashion rather than moving and turning at his own pace. That is how he loses this fight.

Moloney’s skill in movement is limited by his inability to tie-up or dominate on the inside, facts that make him over-reliant upon it and can quickly draw him into territorial fire-fights that might otherwise be avoided against a puncher. Astrolabio’s job is therefore two-fold – first, to keep Maloney fighting on the backfoot and to out-hit him in enough exchanges to bag rounds. Moloney can be hit by a right hand and this is the punch that Astrolabio used to punish Rigondeaux and it is likely to be the punch he most favours here given the skill Moloney has shown in countering the right uppercut.

On the other hand, Moloney is built for exactly the type of fight Astrolabio is going to have to fight to win and this is what we mean by style advantage. If, as it appears, he is also the faster man the route to victory for Astrolabio becomes fettered. That is not new for the Filipino though. The bookies have rightly installed Moloney as a slender favourite, but this is a fight that could go either way and a fight which, for Astrolabio to win it, needs to become a fight-of-the-year contender. If he can make it a war he can come away with the spoils; if he allows the Australian to glide his way through the first half of the fight, Maloney’s elite engine should get him home.

But even if Moloney bosses matters, this is going to be fascinating and highly watchable, an old-fashioned dust-up to cement the division’s elite contender in place, a fight both men should be commended for taking and one that The Sweet Science’s readership will undoubtedly enjoy.

Editor’s Note: Moloney vs. Astrolabio will be the co-feature to the WBO world middleweight title fight between Kazakhstan’s Janibek Alimkhanuly and Canadian challenger Steven Butler. The bouts will be broadcast live on ESPN and ESPN Deportes at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.

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Ringside at the Fontainebleau where Mikaela Mayer Won her Rematch with Sandy Ryan

Published

2 days ago

March 30, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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LAS VEGAS, NV — The first meeting between Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan last September at Madison Square Garden was punctuated with drama before the first punch was thrown. When the smoke cleared, Mayer had become a world-title-holder in a second weight class, taking away Ryan’s WBO welterweight belt via a majority decision in a fan-friendly fight.

The rematch tonight at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas was another fan-friendly fight. There were furious exchanges in several rounds and the crowd awarded both gladiators a standing ovation at the finish.

Mayer dominated the first half of the fight and held on to win by a unanimous decision. But Sandy Ryan came on strong beginning in round seven, and although Mayer was the deserving winner, the scores favoring her (98-92 and 97-93 twice) fail to reflect the competitiveness of the match-up. This is the best rivalry in women’s boxing aside from Taylor-Serrano.

Mayer, 34, improved to 21-2 (5). Up next, she hopes, in a unification fight with Lauren Price who outclassed Natasha Jonas earlier this month and currently holds the other meaningful pieces of the 147-pound puzzle. Sandy Ryan, 31, the pride of Derby, England, falls to 7-3-1.

Co-Feature

In his first defense of his WBO world welterweight title (acquired with a brutal knockout of Giovani Santillan after the title was vacated by Terence Crawford), Atlanta’s Brian Norman Jr knocked out Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas in the third round. A three-punch combination climaxed by a short left hook sent Cuevas staggering into a corner post. He got to his feet before referee Thomas Taylor started the count, but Taylor looked in Cuevas’s eyes and didn’t like what he saw and brought the bout to a halt.

The stoppage, which struck some as premature, came with one second remaining in the third stanza.

A second-generation prizefighter (his father was a fringe contender at super middleweight), the 24-year-old Norman (27-0, 21 KOs) is currently boxing’s youngest male title-holder. It was only the second pro loss for Cuevas (27-2-1) whose lone previous defeat had come early in his career in a 6-rounder he lost by split decision.

Other Bouts

In a career-best performance, 27-year-old Brooklyn featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (15-0, 9 KOs) blasted out Jose Enrique Vivas (23-4) in the third round.

Carrington, who was named the Most Outstanding Boxer at the 2019 U.S. Olympic Trials despite being the lowest-seeded boxer in his weight class, decked Vivas with a right-left combination near the end of the second round. Vivas barely survived the round and was on a short leash when the third stanza began. After 53 seconds of round three, referee Raul Caiz Jr had seen enough and waived it off. Vivas hadn’t previously been stopped.

Cleveland welterweight Tiger Johnson, a Tokyo Olympian, scored a fifth-round stoppage over San Antonio’s Kendo Castaneda. Johnson assumed control in the fourth round and sent Castaneda to his knees twice with body punches in the next frame. The second knockdown terminated the match. The official time was 2:00 of round five.

Johnson advanced to 15-0 (7 KOs). Castenada declined to 21-9.

Las Vegas junior welterweight Emiliano Vargas (13-0, 11 KOs) blasted out Stockton, California’s Giovanni Gonzalez in the second round. Vargas brought the bout to a sudden conclusion with a sweeping left hook that knocked Gonzalez out cold. The end came at the 2:00 minute mark of round two.

Gonzalez brought a 20-7-2 record which was misleading as 18 of his fights were in Tijuana where fights are frequently prearranged. However, he wasn’t afraid to trade with Vargas and paid the price.

Emiliano Vargas, with his matinee idol good looks and his boxing pedigree – he is the son of former U.S. Olympian and two-weight world title-holder “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas – is highly marketable and has the potential to be a cross-over star.

Eighteen-year-old Newark bantamweight Emmanuel “Manny” Chance, one of Top Rank’s newest signees, won his pro debut with a four-round decision over So Cal’s Miguel Guzman. Chance won all four rounds on all three cards, but this was no runaway. He left a lot of room for improvement.

There was a long intermission before the co-main and again before the main event, but the tedium was assuaged by a moving video tribute to George Foreman.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

Published

2 days ago

March 29, 2025

David A. Avila

William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

No surprise, once again William Zepeda eked out a win over the clever and resilient Tevin Farmer to remain undefeated and retain a regional lightweight title on Saturday.

There were no knockdowns in this rematch.

The Mexican punching machine Zepeda (33-0, 17 KOs) once more sought to overwhelm Farmer (33-8-1, 9 KOs) with a deluge of blows. This rematch by Golden Boy Promotions took place in the famous beach resort area of Cancun, Mexico.

It was a mere four months ago that both first clashed in Saudi Arabia with their vastly difference styles. This time the tropical setting served as the background which suited Zepeda and his lawnmower assaults. The Mexican fans were pleased.

Nothing changed in their second meeting.

Zepeda revved up the body assault and Farmer moved around casually to his right while fending off the Mexican fighter’s attacks. By the fourth round Zepeda was able to cut off Farmer’s escape routes and targeted the body with punishing shots.

The blows came in bunches.

In the fifth round Zepeda blasted away at Farmer who looked frantic for an escape. The body assault continued with the Mexican fighter pouring it on and Farmer seeming to look ready to quit. When the round ended, he waved off his corner’s appeals to stop.

Zepeda continued to dominate the next few rounds and then Farmer began rallying. At first, he cleverly smothered Zepeda’s body attacks and then began moving and hitting sporadically. It forced the Mexican fighter to pause and figure out the strategy.

Farmer, a Philadelphia fighter, showed resiliency especially when it was revealed he had suffered a hand injury.

During the last three rounds Farmer dug down deep and found ways to score and not get hit. It was Boxing 101 and the Philly fighter made it work.

But too many rounds had been put in the bank by Zepeda. Despite the late rally by Farmer one judge saw it 114-114, but two others scored it 116-112 and 115-113 for Zepeda who retains his interim lightweight title and place at the top of the WBC rankings.

“I knew he was a difficult fighter. This time he was even more difficult,” said Zepeda.

Farmer was downtrodden about another loss but realistic about the outcome and starting slow.

“But I dominated the last rounds,” said Farmer.

Zepeda shrugged at the similar outcome as their first encounter.

“I’m glad we both put on a great show,” said Zepeda.

Female Flyweight Battle

Costa Rica’s Yokasta Valle edged past Texas fighter Marlen Esparza to win their showdown at flyweight by split decision after 10 rounds.

Valle moved up two weight divisions to meet Esparza who was slightly above the weight limit. Both showed off their contrasting styles and world class talent.

Esparza, a former unified flyweight world titlist, stayed in the pocket and was largely successful with well-placed jabs and left hooks. She repeatedly caught Valle in-between her flurries.

The current minimumweight world titlist changed tactics and found more success in the second half of the fight. She forced Esparza to make the first moves and that forced changes that benefited her style.

Neither fighter could take over the fight.

After 10 rounds one judge saw Esparza the winner 96-94, but two others saw Valle the winner 97-93 twice.

Will Valle move up and challenge the current undisputed flyweight world champion Gabriela Fundora? That’s the question.

Valle currently holds the WBC minimumweight world title.

Puerto Rico vs Mexico

Oscar Collazo (12-0, 9 KOs), the WBO, WBA minimumweight titlist, knocked out Mexico’s Edwin Cano (13-3-1, 4 KOs) with a flurry of body shots at 1:12 of the fifth round.

Collazo dominated with a relentless body attack the Mexican fighter could not defend. It was the Puerto Rican fighter’s fifth consecutive title defense.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 319: Rematches in Las Vegas, Cancun and More

Published

4 days ago

March 28, 2025

David A. Avila

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Rematches are the bedrock for prizefighting.

Return battles between rival boxers always means their first encounter was riveting and successful at the box office.

Six months after their first brutal battle Mikaela Mayer (20-2, 5 KOs) and Sandy Ryan (7-2-1, 3 KOs) will slug it out again for the WBO welterweight world title this time on Saturday, March 29, at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas.

ESPN will show the Top Rank card live.

“It’s important for women’s boxing to have these rivalries and this is definitely up there as one of the top ones,” Mayer told the BBC.

If you follow Mayer’s career you know that somehow drama follows. Whether its back-and-forth beefs with fellow American fighters or controversial judging due to nationalism in countries abroad. The Southern California native who now trains in Las Vegas knows how to create the drama.

For female fighters self-promotion is a necessity.

Most boxing promoters refuse to step out of the usual process set for male boxers, not for female boxers. Things remain the same and have been for the last 70 years. Social media has brought changes but that has made promoters do even less.

No longer are there press conferences, instead announcements are made on social media to be drowned among the billions of other posts. It is not killing but diluting interest in the sport.

Women innately present a different advantage that few if any promoters are recognizing. So far in the past 25 years I have only seen two or three promoters actually ignite interest in female fighters. They saw the advantages and properly boosted interest in the women.

The fight breakdown

Mayer has won world titles in the super featherweight and now the welterweight division. Those are two vastly different weight classes and prove her fighting abilities are based on skill not power or size.

Coaching Mayer since amateurs remains Al Mitchell and now Kofi Jantuah who replaced Kay Koroma the current trainer for Sandy Ryan.

That was the reason drama ignited during their first battle. Then came someone tossing paint at Ryan the day of their first fight.

More drama.

During their first fight both battled to control the initiative with Mayer out-punching the British fighter by a slender margin. It was a back-and-forth struggle with each absorbing blows and retaliating immediately.

New York City got its money’s worth.

Ryan had risen to the elite level rapidly since losing to Erica Farias three years ago. Though she was physically bigger and younger, she was out-maneuvered and defeated by the wily veteran from Argentina. In the rematch, however, Ryan made adjustments and won convincingly.

Can she make adjustments from her defeat to Mayer?

“I wanted the rematch straight away,” said Ryan on social media. “I’ve come to America again.”

Both fighters have size and reach. In their first clash it was evident that conditioning was not a concern as blows were fired nonstop in bunches. Mayer had the number of punches landed advantage and it unfolded with the judges giving her a majority decision win.

That was six months ago. Can she repeat the outcome?

Mayer has always had boiler-oven intensity. It’s not fake. Since her amateur days the slender Southern California blonde changes disposition all the way to red when lacing up the gloves. It’s something that can’t be taught.

Can she draw enough of that fire out again?

“I didn’t have to give her this rematch. I could have just sat it out, waited for Lauren Price to unify and fought for undisputed or faced someone else,” said Mayer to BBC. “That’s not the fighter I am though.”

Co-Main in Las Vegas

The co-main event pits Brian Norman Jr. (26-0, 20 KOs) facing Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas (27-1-1, 19 KOs) in a contest for the WBO welterweight title.

Norman, 24, was last seen a year ago dissecting a very good welterweight in Giovani Santillan for a knockout win in San Diego. He showed speed, skill and power in defeating Santillan in his hometown.

Cuevas has beaten some solid veteran talent but this will be his big test against Norman and his first attempt at winning a world title.

Also on the Top Rank card will be Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington and Emiliano Vargas, the son of Fernando Vargas, in separate bouts.

Golden Boy in Cancun

A rematch between undefeated William “Camaron” Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs) and ex-champ Tevin Farmer (33-7-1, 8 KOs) headlines the lightweight match on Saturday March 29, at Cancun, Mexico.

In their first encounter Zepeda was knocked down in the fourth round but rallied to win a split-decision over Farmer. It showed the flaws in Zepeda’s tornado style.

DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card that also includes a clash between Yokasta Valle the WBC minimumweight world titlist who is moving up to flyweight to face former flyweight champion Marlen Esparza.

Both Valle and Esparza have fast hands.

Valle is excellent darting in and out while Esparza has learned how to fight inside. It’s a toss-up fight.

Fights to Watch

Fri. DAZN 12 p.m. Cameron Vuong (7-0) vs Jordan Flynn (11-0-1); Pat Brown (0-0) vs Federico Grandone (7-4-2).

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. William Zepeda (32-0) vs Tevin Farmer (33-7-1); Yokasta Valle (32-3) vs Marlen Esparza (15-2).

Sat. ESPN 7 p.m. Mikaela Mayer (20-2) vs Sandy Ryan (7-2-1); Brian Norman Jr. (26-0) vs Derrieck Cuevas (27-1-1).

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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