Naoya Inoue ends his eleven month layoff and defends his unified crown versus Aussie Jason Moloney
It’s been tough being a part time writer with a full time job and getting my rounds in at the gym. I appreciate all the support from my readers and followers so far. I’m relaxing after the gym with an ice cold the Yuengling and I’m very excited this weekend for the return of Naoya Inoue who is fighting Saturday night against Jason Moloney. The “Monster” is coming off the back of his 2019 RING Fight of the Year victory against Nonito Donaire. At 27 years of age and the Super bantamweight WBA and IBF champion he beat Donaire last November in a very exciting fight but he did suffer facial injuries which have kept him on the shelf along with covid 19. The injuries that he suffered were quite scary given its a fractured orbital bone and it is a tough one to comeback from, remember what happen with Antonio Margarito. The lay off and possibility of reoccuring injury makes this a risky comeback for a fighter that some insiders have as the number one pound for pound fighter facing Jason Moloney. Moloney is an Australian fighter 29 years old 24 and 1 with 18 knockouts and this is a major step up for him. Inonue has been in 14 world title fights and fought for his 1st championship in his 6th fight in in those title fights has has 12 knockouts. In those 14 title fights only Donaire gave him a stiff challenge but even then he was very close to knocking Donaire out. He had Donaire on the canvas with a body shot in the 11th round and it didn’t look like Donaire was going to be able to make the final bell. In the last several fights he has A second round knockout the Manuel Rodriguez, a first round knockout of Juan Carlos Payano a former world champion, and a 1st round knockout of Jamie McDonnell another world champion. He typically ends his fights inside the 1st 6 rounds and is a very devastating puncher and a very good body puncher. Inonue has won titles in 3 different weight divisions, Moloney to his credit is rated number 2 in the WBA, number 4 in the IBF number 1 in the WBO. He is actually the number 1 contender for Johnriel Casamiero but opted to face Inonue. I give Moloney a lot of credit for going after Inonue who’s clearly the number 1 fighter in the division with 2 unified titles despite being the number 1 contender for the WBO think it’s very admirable. Coincidentally Casamiero was the original opponent for Inonue in a very fun unification between two heavy handed bangers. In the co-feature we have Ewa Brodnika against Mikaela Mayer for the women’s WBO featherweight super featherweight championship. Mayer is 13-0 with 5 KO’s and Brodnicka is 19-0 with2 knockouts and is 36 to Mayer’s 30 and they are evenly matched in height separated by an inch. Brodnika of Poland has been champion since 2018 and has four defenses of her title all by decision with several of them close with a split decision and a majority decision in 2019. Mayer has been really pushed by ESPN and Bob Arum’s Top Rank promotions as she is a very talented fighter. Fighting out of California she represented the USA at the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as a lightweight and lost in the quarterfinals. She has been boxing since she was 17 and has developed into a very impressive fighter. She is coming off a dominant decision over Helen Joseph, a highly ranked and tough contender. Also featured is a New Jersey fighter of course (have to pay homage to the local guy) Julian Rodriguez “Hammer Hands” age 26 a 130 pounder 5’9″ from Hasbrouck Heights coming off of a big 1st round knockout in August against undefeated Anthony Laureano. He is 20-0 with 13 knockouts facing Jose Lopez who is 29-7-2 in a 10 rounder. Jared Anderson is featured again, he is one of my favorite prospects rising up the ranks and has had plenty of exposure in the MGM Grand Bubble. He is a 20 year old heavyweight accomplished amateur standing 6’4″ with a 6-0 record with 6 knockouts with 4 in the 1st round and hes been very impressive on ESPN so far. He faces 6-1 Luis Eduardo Pena a 26 year-old heavyweight from Ventura, California coming off of a knockout loss back in August in the 5th round. I hope to see Anderson get some rounds in and develop further but he has the punch and the precision to make this a short night.
I feel like this fight deserves more of a write up but I am running it close to start time for the Mungia vs Johnson DAZN card. I think this is a very good fight that many fans are sleeping on in regards to Leo Santa Cruz’s chances. Many feel that Gervonta Davis is going to just run though Sant Cruz and win by stoppage. While Davis is a solid puncher having stopped his last 15 foes, this is a very big step up for Davis. Santa Cruz has almost as many title fights as Davis has total fights and has only been defeated by Carl Frampton whom he defeated in a rematch. Davis is surrounded by young stars like Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez and Saturday presents an opportunity for him to score a big win and make a statement. With all of them being similar ages and weights there is a great opportunity for them all to meet along with Shakur Stevenson. I will link the two Showtime All Access Episodes to add on to this short post.
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