Joshua Franco held onto his WBA super flyweight title Saturday night with a unanimous decision victory against Andrew Moloney. The Franco victory settled a longstanding rivalry between the two boxers who were fighting for the third consecutive time.
Joshua Franco and Andrew Moloney first stepped into the ring together in June 2020. Joshua came out ahead on all three scorecards, with two of the three judges scoring the fight 114-113. The third judge gave Franco one more round than the first two judges and turned in a score of 115-112.
The second fight between Joshua Franco and Andrew Moloney took place in November 2020 and ended in controversy. Andrew Moloney started fast and took early control of the boxing match. The fight was stopped and ruled a no-contest when referee Russell Mora said an accidental headbutt damaged Franco´s eye. Moloney and his camp argued that the challenger`s jab was responsible for the swollen eye.
Joshua Franco was sure to leave no doubt in Saturday night´s trilogy fight. All three judges ruled him the winner by a score of 116-112.
Joshua Franco improved his record to 18 wins against one loss and two draws with the victory. He is looking forward to gaining a fight with Roman Gonzalez or another big name at 115 pounds.
“I see big names,” Franco took a moment to assess his boxing future following the victory. “I needed this fight to prove myself. This win puts me in the top five.”
Andrew Moloney could not hide his disappointment at failing to come away with a world title for the third straight time. “It`ll be a long road back,” the boxer explained while fighting to keep from crying.
The proud Australian says he feels he let his family and friends down by falling short in the contest. But Andrew Moloney likely found out just how wrong that statement was shortly after he made it. And at 30 years old, the opportunity is there for him to chart a course that will allow him another crack at a world title.