Fast Results from the Bubble: Franco Upends Moloney; Wins WBA Belt

The fifth installment of the Top Rank Summer Series on ESPN played out tonight at “The Bubble” in the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas. The main event was a 12-round contest between the WBA “regular” super flyweight title-holder Andrew Moloney and Joshua Franco.

It was the U.S. debut for  Australia’s Moloney who entered the contest undefeated (21-0) and came out on the short end of a close but unanimous decision. Joshua Franco (17-1-2), heretofore best known for his furious trilogy with Oscar Negrete, a poor man’s Gatti-Ward, came on strong in the late rounds to the satisfaction of the judges who returned him the winner by scores of 115-112 and 114-113 twice.

Franco, who is from San Antonio but trains in Riverside, CA, at the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy, opened a cut over Moloney’s left eye in round nine and knocked him down in the next stanza with a chopping right hand set up by a straight left. In hindsight, if not for the knockdown, Moloney would kept his title with a draw, but Franco, who stayed tight to his game plan, was a deserving winner.

Other Bouts

In a rather monotonous 10-round featherweight contest between former world title challengers, Puerto Rico’s Christopher Diaz improved to 26-2 with a unanimous decision over Albuquerque’s Jason Sanchez (15-2). The scores were 97-93 and 98-92 twice.

Diaz had Freddie Roach in his corner assisting his trainer Nelson Rodriguez. He is eyeing a bout with Jessie Magdaleno.

Bakersfield, CA junior welterweight Miguel Contreras scored a unanimous decision over Milwaukee’s Rolando Vargas in an entertaining 6-round scrap. The scores were 58-56 across the board.

Contreras improved to 11-0. He had a bit more polish than the 20-year-old Vargas who had won all five of his previous pro fights by stoppage.

The opener was a tedious 6-round contest between third-rate heavyweights Helamin Olguin and Adam Stewart. The beefy, 36-year-old Olguin, from South Jordan, Utah, won a majority decision, improving to 8-3. It was his seventh straight win since returning to the sport after a nearly five-year absence. Stewart (8-1-1), a former offensive lineman at a Div. III school in Kansas, was out-weighed by nearly 60 pounds.

A scheduled 8-round lightweight contest between Joseph Adorno (14-0-1) and Alexis del Bosque (17-5) was cancelled when the 21-year-old Adorno weighed in nine pounds overweight.

—

Andrew Maloney’s twin brother Jason Maloney (20-1) headlines Thursday’s card at the Bubble against Mexicali’s Leonardo Baez (18-2). If Jason wins, he was almost certainly move into the top slot in the WBO bantamweight rankings where the title-holder is John Riel Casimero.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams for Top Rank

Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel 

To comment on this story in The Fight Forum CLICK HERE