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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Skylar Lacy Blocked for Lamar Jackson before Making his Mark in Boxing

Published

2 days ago

January 19, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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Skylar Lacy, a six-foot-seven heavyweight, returns to the ring on Sunday, Feb. 2, opposing Brandon Moore on a card in Flint, Michigan, airing worldwide on DAZN.

As this is being written, the bookmakers hadn’t yet posted a line on the bout, but one couldn’t be accused of false coloring by calling the 10-round contest a 50/50 fight. And if his frustrating history is any guide, Lacy will have another draw appended to his record or come out on the wrong side of a split decision.

This should not be construed as a tip to wager on Moore. “Close fights just don’t seem to go my way,” says the boxer who played alongside future multi-year NFL MVP Lamar Jackson at the University of Louisville.

A 2021 National Golden Gloves champion, Skylar Lacy came up short in his final amateur bout, losing a split decision to future U.S. Olympian Joshua Edwards. His last Team Combat League assignment resulted in another loss by split decision and he was held to a draw in both instances when stepping up in class as a pro. “In my mind, I’m still undefeated,” says Lacy (8-0-2, 6 KOs). “No one has ever kicked my ass.”

Lacy was the B-side in both of those draws, the first coming in a 6-rounder against Top Rank fighter Antonio Mireles on a Top Rank show in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and the second in an 8-rounder against George Arias, a Lou DiBella fighter on a DiBella-promoted card in Philadelphia.

Lacy had the Mireles fight in hand when he faded in the homestretch. The altitude was a factor. Lake Tahoe, Nevada (officially Stateline) sits 6,225 feet above sea level. The fight with Arias took an opposite tack. Lacy came on strong after a slow start to stave off defeat.

Skylar will be the B-side once again in Michigan. The card’s promoter, former world title challenger Dmitriy Salita, inked Brandon Moore (16-1, 10 KOs) in January. “A capable American heavyweight with charisma, athleticism and skills is rare in today’s day and age. Brandon has got all these ingredients…”, said Salita in the press release announcing the signing. (Salita has an option on Skylar Lacy’s next pro fight in the event that Skylar should win, but the promoter has a larger investment in Moore who was previously signed to Top Rank, a multi-fight deal that evaporated after only one fight.)

Both Lacy and Moore excelled in other sports. The six-foot-six Moore was an outstanding basketball player in high school in Fort Lauderdale and at the NAIA level in college. Lacy was an all-state football lineman in Indiana before going on to the University of Louisville where he started as an offensive guard as a redshirt sophomore, blocking for freshman phenom Lamar Jackson. “Lamar was hard-working and humble,” says Lacy about the player who is now one of the world’s highest-paid professional athletes.

When Lacy committed to Louisville, the head coach was Charlie Strong who went on to become the head coach at the University of Texas. Lacy was never comfortable with Strong’s successor Bobby Petrino and transferred to San Jose State. Having earned his degree in only three years (a BA in communications) he was eligible immediately but never played a down because of injuries.

Returning to Indianapolis where he was raised by his truck dispatcher father, a single parent, Lacy gravitated to Pat McPherson’s IBG (Indy Boxing and Grappling) Gym on the city’s east side where he was the rare college graduate pounding the bags alongside at-risk kids from the city’s poorer neighborhoods.

Lacy built a 12-6 record across his two seasons in Team Combat League while representing the Las Vegas Hustle (2023) and the Boston Butchers (2024).

For the uninitiated, a Team Combat League (TCL) event typically consists of 24 fights, each consisting of one three-minute round. The concept finds no favor with traditionalists, but Lacy is a fan. It’s an incentive for professional boxers to keep in shape between bouts without disturbing their professional record and, notes Lacy, it’s useful in exposing a competitor to different styles.

“It paid the bills and kept me from just sitting around the house,” says Lacy whose 12-6 record was forged against 13 different opponents.

As a sparring partner, Lacy has shared the ring with some of the top heavyweights of his generation, e.g., Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte. He was one of Fury’s regular sparring partners during the Gypsy King’s trilogy with Deontay Wilder. He worked with Joshua at Derrick James’ gym in Dallas and at Ben Davison’s gym in England, helping Joshua prepare for his date in Saudi Arabia with Francis Ngannou and had previously sparred with Ngannou at the UFC Performance Center in Las Vegas. Skylar names traveling to new places as one of his hobbies and he got to scratch that itch when he joined Whyte’s camp in Portugal.

As to the hardest puncher he ever faced, he has no hesitation: “Ngannou,” he says. “I negotiated a nice price to spend a week in his camp and the first time he hit me I knew I should have asked for more.”

Lacy is confident that having shared the ring with some of the sport’s elite heavyweights will get him over the hump in what will be his first 10-rounder (Brandon Moore has never had to fight beyond eight rounds, having won his three 10-rounders inside the distance). Lacy vs. Moore is the co-feature to Claressa Shields’ homecoming fight with Danielle Perkins. Shields, basking in the favorable reviews accorded the big-screen biopic based on her first Olympic journey (“The Fire Inside”) will attempt to capture a title in yet another weight class at the expense of the 42-year-old Perkins, a former professional basketball player.

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Mizuki Hiruta Dominates in her U.S. Debut and Omar Trinidad Wins Too at Commerce

Published

4 days ago

January 18, 2025

David A. Avila

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Japan’s Mizuki Hiruta smashed through Mexico’s Maribel Ramirez with ease in winning by technical decision and local hero Omar Trinidad continued his assault on the featherweight division on Friday.

Hiruta (7-0, 2 KOs), who prefers to be called “Mimi,” made her American debut with an impressive performance against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez (15-11-4) and retained the WBO super flyweight world title by unanimous decision at Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

The pink-haired Japanese southpaw champion quickly proved to be quicker, stronger and even better than advertised. In the opening round Ramirez landed on the floor twice after throwing errant blows. On one instance, it could have been ruled a knockdown but it was not a convincing blow.

In the second round, Ramirez again attacked and again was met with a Hiruta check right hook and down went the Mexican. This time referee Ray Corona gave the eight-count and the fight resumed.

It was Hiruta’s third title defense but this time it was on American soil. She seemed nervous by the prospect of getting a favorable review from the more than 700 fans inside the casino tent.

For more than a year Hiruta has been training off and on with Manny Robles in the L.A. area. Now that she has a visa, she has spent considerable time this year learning the tricks of the trade. They proved explosively effective.

Though Mexico City’s Ramirez has considerable experience against world champions, she discovered that Hiruta was not easy to hit. Often, the Japanese champion would slip and counter with precision.

It was an impressive American debut, though the fight was stopped in the eighth round after a collision of heads. The scores were tallied and all three saw Hiruta the winner by scores of 80-71 twice and 79-72.

“I’m so happy. I could have done much more,” said Hiruta through interpreter Yuriko Miyata. “I wanted to do more things that Manny Robles taught me.”

Trinidad Wins Too

Omar Trinidad (18-0-1, 13 KOs) discovered that challenger Mike Plania (31-5, 18 KOs) has a very good chin and staying power. But over 10 rounds Trinidad proved to be too fast and too busy for the Filipino challenger.

Immediately it was evident that the East L.A. featherweight was too quick and too busy for Plania who preferred a counter-puncher attack that never worked.

“He was strong,” said Trinidad. “He took everything.”

After 10 redundant rounds all three judges scored for Trinidad 100-90 twice and 99-91. He retains the WBC Continental Americas title.

Other Bouts

Ali Akhmedov (23-1, 17 KOs) blasted out Malcolm Jones (17-5-1) in less than two rounds. A dozen punches by Akhmedov forced referee Thomas Taylor to stop the super middleweight fight.

Iyana “Roxy” Verduzco (3-0) bloodied Lindsey Ellis in the first round and continued the speedy assault in the next two rounds. Referee Ray Corona saw enough and stopped the fight in favor of Verduzco at 1:34 of the third round.

Gloria Munguilla (7-1) and Brook Sibrian (5-2) lit up the boxing ring with a nonstop clash for eight rounds in their light flyweight fight. Munguilla proved effective with a slip-and-counter attack. Sibrian adjusted and made the fight closer in the last four rounds but all three judges favored Munguilla.

More Winners

Joshua Anton, Tayden Beltran, Adan Palma, and Alexander Gueche all won their bouts.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More

Published

5 days ago

January 16, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More

Best wishes to the survivors of the Los Angeles wildfires that took place last week and are still ongoing in small locales.

Most of the heavy damage took place in the western part of L.A. near the ocean due to Santa Ana winds. Another very hot spot was in Altadena just north of the Rose Bowl. It was a horrific tragedy.

Hopefully the worst is over.

Pro boxing returns with 360 Boxing Promotions spotlighting East L.A.’s Omar Trinidad (17-0-1, 13 KOs) defending a regional featherweight title against Mike Plania (31-4, 18 KOs) on Friday, Jan. 17, at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

“I’m the king of L.A. boxing and I’ll be ready to put on a show headlining again in the main event. This is my year, I’m ready to challenge and defeat any of the featherweight world champions,” said Trinidad.

UFC Fight Pass will stream the Hollywood Night fight card that includes a female world championship fight and other intriguing match-ups.

Tom Loeffler heads 360 Promotions and once again comes full force with a hot prospect in Trinidad. If you’re not familiar with Loeffler’s history of success, he introduced America to Oleksandr Usyk, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and the brothers Wladimir and Vitaly Kltischko.

“We’ve got a wealth of international talent and local favorites to kick off our 2025 in grand style,” said Loeffler.

He knows talent.

Trinidad hails from the Boyle Heights area of East L.A. near the Los Angeles riverbed. Several fighters from the past came from that exact area including the first Golden Boy, Art Aragon.

Aragon was a huge gate attraction during the late 1940s until 1960. He was known as a lady’s man and dated several Hollywood starlets in his time. Though he never won a world title he did fight world champions Carmen Basilio, Jimmy Carter and Lauro Salas. He was more or less the king of the Olympic Auditorium and Los Angeles boxing during his career.

Other famous boxers from the Boyle Heights area were notorious gangster Mickey Cohen and former world champion Joey Olivo.

Can Trinidad reach world title status?

Facing Trinidad will be Filipino fighter Plania who’s knocked off a couple of prospects during his career including Joshua “Don’t Blink” Greer and Giovanni Gutierrez. The fighter from General Santos in the Philippines can crack and hold his own in the boxing ring.

It’s a very strong fight card and includes WBO world titlist Mizuki Hiruta of Japan who defends the super flyweight title against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez. It’s a tough matchup for Hiruta who makes her American debut. You can’t miss her with that pink hair and she has all the physical tools to make a splash in this country.

Mizukii Hiruta

Two other female bouts are also planned, including light flyweight banger L.A.’s Gloria Munguilla (6-1) against Coachella’s Brook Sibrian (5-1) in a match set for six rounds. Both are talented fighters. Another female fight includes super featherweights Iyana “Right Hook Roxy” Verduzco (2-0) versus Lindsey Ellis (2-1) in another six-rounder. Ellis can crack with all her wins coming via knockout. Verduzco is a multi-national titlist as an amateur.

Others scheduled to perform are Ali Akhmedov, Joshua Anton, Adan Palma and more.

Doors open at 4:30 p.m.

Boxing and the Media

The sport of professional boxing is currently in flux. It’s always in flux but no matter what people may say or write, boxing will survive.

Whether you like Jake Paul or not, he proved boxing has worldwide appeal with monstrous success in his last show. He has media companies looking at the numbers and imagining what they can do with the sport.

Sure, UFC is negotiating a massive billion dollar deal with media companies, as is WWE, both are very similar in that they provide combat entertainment. You don’t need to know the champions because they really don’t matter. Its about the attractions.

Boxing is different. The good champions last and build a following that endures even beyond their careers a la Mike Tyson.

MMA can’t provide that longevity, but it does provide entertainment.

Currently, there is talk of establishing a boxing league again. It’s been done over and over but we shall see if it sticks this time.

Pro boxing is the true warrior’s path and that means a solo adventure. It’s a one-on-one sport and that appeals to people everywhere. It’s the oldest sport that can be traced to prehistoric times. You don’t need classes in Brazilian Jiujitsu, judo, kick boxing or wrestling. Just show up in a boxing gym and they can put you to work.

It’s a poor person’s path that can lead to better things and most importantly discipline.

Photos credit: Lina Baker

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