6/25 ESPN: Jason Moloney vs Leonardo Baez / Abraham Nova vs Avery Sparrow
- Thread starter patscorpio
- Start date
Bigblackted4
Superstar
Nova vs Sparrow is a good fight
Too bad Negrete had to turn down that moloney fight because of a detached retina issue..that would have been a good fight...he basically gets a gimme replacement in Baez
Moloney Makes Weight, Baez Slightly Over Limit For ESPN Headliner
By Jake Donovan
Published On Wed Jun 24, 2020, 04:27 PM EST
The goal for Jason Moloney is to avoid the fate that met his twin brother earlier this week.
The 29-year old Australian bantamweight aims to restore the family name ahead of his scheduled 10-round clash versus Mexico’s Leonardo Baez (19-2-2, 7KOs), who still has some work to do in order to be cleared to fight. Their bout airs live on ESPN atop a six-fight card beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT live from MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Moloney (20-1, 17KOs) weighed in at 117.7 pounds, while Baez—a late replacement for Colombia’s Oscar Negrete—checked in at a fighting fit 118.3 pounds. Per Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) rules, Baez will have one hour to shed 0.3 pounds in order to be eligible to fight.
The bout will take place just two nights after Moloney’s twin brother, Andrew Moloney suffered his first career defeat in a 12-round loss to Joshua Franco in their 115-pound secondary title fight Tuesday evening. Andrew Moloney (21-1, 14KOs) was attempting his first title defense in what doubled as his United States debut, but instead saw his title reign and unbeaten ways come to a close in a 12-round loss to San Antonio’s Joshua Franco (17-1-2, 8KOs) while having to be taken to a nearby hospital for overnight observations.
Jason Moloney suffered his lone career defeat in the U.S., dropping a hard-fought 12-round split decision to then-unbeaten bantamweight titlist Emmanuel Rodriguez in their October 2018 war. Their bout aired live on DAZN from Orlando, Florida, serving as a quarterfinal entrant in the World Boxing Super Series bantamweight tournament.
Moloney has since won three straight, all coming in 2019 and in his native Australia.
Baez accepted the fight on short notice, filling in for Negrete who was forced to withdraw due to an eye injury. The 24-year old spoiler from Mexicali is currently riding a six-fight win streak, including wins over unbeaten prospect Alberto Melian—a 2016 Olympian from Argentina—and former title challenger Moises ‘Chucky’ Flores, the latter his most recent victory coming this February in Indio, California.
The evening’s chief support pits unbeaten junior lightweight prospect Abraham ‘El Super’ Nova (18-0, 14KOs) and Philadelphia’s Avery Sparrow (10-1, 3KOs) in a scheduled 10-round contest.
Both boxers made weight for their televised co-feature, which is a bit of a victory for Sparrow given his previous efforts to make it even to this point. The 26-year old prospect was due to face unbeaten lightweight Ryan Garcia last September only to be arrested hours before the weigh-in due to an outstanding warrant for an alleged firearm possession charge back home.
Efforts to get him back in the ring last November proved just as frustrating, as a dehydrated Sparrow passed out and was hospitalized earlier in fight week ahead of a canceled clash versus James Wilkins.
This time around, he made it to the scale and within the contracted limit as he came in at 131.5 pounds, nodding in confidence as he hit the mark. Thursday will mark his first bout since a 10-round win over crosstown rival Hank Lundy last March in his Philly hometown.
Nova checked in at 131.9 pounds for his second fight of 2020, having to strip down to his birthday suit to hit the mark. The 26-year old Puerto Rico-born Dominican-raised prospect scored a 4th round knockout of Pedro Navarrete on an ESPN+ streamed preliminary bout this past January in Verona, New York. While not an eliminator, a win on Thursday will position Nova for an inevitable title shot in the near future.
Other weights:
- Waldo Cortes (5-2, 2KOs) registered at 246 pounds for his showdown versus Kingsley Ibeh (3-1, 3KOs), who weighed in at 286.4 pounds as a late replacement for medically scratched Sonny Conto for a six-round battle of Phoenix-based heavyweights;
- Los Angeles’ Vlad Panin (7-1, 4KOs) weighed 149 pounds as he faces San Antonio’s Benjamin Whitaker (13-3, KOs), who came in over the limit at 151 pounds for their contracted 149-pound bout scheduled for six rounds;
- Orlando Gonzalez (14-0, 10KOs), an unbeaten featherweight prospect from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico was 126 pounds for his scheduled eight-round affair versus Ecuador’s Luis Porozo (15-2, 8KOs), who hit the scale at a fighting ready 125 pounds;
- Philippines’ Reymond Yanong (10-5-1, 9KOs) checked in at 143 pounds for his six-round welterweight bout versus Clay Burns (9-7-2, 4KOs) of Alexandria, Louisiana who weighed 143.6 pounds for the televised opener.
yeah this guy is a gambling junkie...i can sense this..he def was the one with that 180 something K on that gabe flores fight
Conscious Pilot
Do Better.
Gonzalez vs Porozo might be good.
Wonder how his twin brother’s first L/losing the title will affect Moloney, if at all.
Wonder how his twin brother’s first L/losing the title will affect Moloney, if at all.
showing those footage of his andrew moloney being all fukked up
i hear that pete rock and cl smooth in the background 
this heavyweight fight is already way better than the one that opened up the card on tuesday
Omar Little
It’s all in the Game Yo
I decide if Tim Bradley is good at Commentary or not.
torcher
Superstar
Ebeh breathing hard
leaning back from punches with your hands down..oh dear
Conscious Pilot
Do Better.
This is a nice opening scrap. 2 heavies that can actually move around a bit 
cortes showing a little defense from those wild shots
ibeh shouldnt lean back from punches with your hands down