The WBO’s August 21 ratings reshuffle nudged Andrew Moloney from No. 2 to No. 1 at junior bantamweight after Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez was removed from the organization’s rankings entirely.
Gonzalez, inactive since his July 2024 TKO of Rober Barrera, is slated to box Sept. 12 in Managua versus Hector Robles but, for now, is unranked by the WBO.
For Moloney, 34, the timing is ideal. An IBF eliminator with Argi Cortes fell apart amid repeated date and site changes, but the Australian - a former secondary WBA titlist who went 0-2 (1 NC) in his trilogy with Joshua Franco and was stopped late by Junto Nakatani in 2023 - has since gone 2-1 (wins over Judy Flores and Jakrawut Majungoen, narrow loss to Pedro Guevara).
Sitting at WBO No. 1 puts Moloney on the doorstep of Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, the WBC/WBO and Ring champion, who meets WBA titleholder Fernando Martinez on Nov. 22 in a unification.
Prepare for insane Nov. 22nd card!
Image Credit: Jake Nowakowski