The bantamweight king from Down Below is able to deliver a little bit mayhem up north. Jason “Mayhem” Moloney will defend his WBO world title in opposition to Mexican-American challenger Saul Sanchez on Saturday, Jan. 13, at Videotron Centre in Quebec Metropolis, Canada.
Moloney-Sanchez will stream LIVE & completely within the U.S. on ESPN+ earlier than the ESPN-televised doubleheader (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT) that includes Artur Beterbiev’s WBC/IBF/WBO gentle heavyweight title protection in opposition to Callum “Mundo” Smith and undefeated tremendous middleweight knockout artist Christian Mbilli in opposition to Rohan Murdock.
Moloney (26-2, 19 KOs), from Melbourne, Australia, traveled the lengthy street to world title honors. In October 2018, he dropped a cut up resolution to Emmanuel Rodriguez for the IBF bantamweight world title. Two years later, he fell to Naoya Inoue in seven rounds in a bid for the WBA, IBF and Ring Journal titles. The previous newbie standout stayed the course, reeling off victories over contenders Joshua Greer Jr. and Aston Palicte to place himself for a 3rd crack on the brass ring. In Might, he bested Filipino puncher Vincent Astrolabio by majority resolution to say his WBO title.
“Saul is coming off a powerful win in opposition to an undefeated opponent in Japan, and I’m positive he can be hungry to struggle for a world title, however that is my period, the period of ‘Mayhem,’” Moloney mentioned. “I achieved my dream of changing into world champion, however 2024 is the 12 months I show I’m the perfect bantamweight on this planet. I need a very energetic 12 months, and I plan to take out all the opposite champions. My mission is to turn out to be the undisputed champion, however first issues first, a powerful knockout victory over Saul Sanchez. Canada, prepare for Mayhem!”
Los Angeles native Sanchez (20-2, 12 KOs) enters his first world title problem driving a wave of momentum. After dropping a cut up resolution to Eros Correa final June, Sanchez returned a 12 months later to knock down Mexican puncher Franklin Gonzalez 4 instances en path to a sixth-round stoppage victory. Sanchez rode that momentum to an October task in opposition to Filipino southpaw RV Deniega in Japan, the place he received an eight-round unanimous resolution.
Sanchez mentioned, “I’m enthusiastic about this chance. I’m going to come back in the perfect form I’ve ever been in to get the victory and turn out to be the brand new world champion. I need to thank my supervisor Nomaan Ali at GOAT Administration for securing and presenting this chance. I’ve received back-to-back fights, and I can be prepared for this struggle.”
