Jason Moloney On Naoya Inoue ‘He Can Be Hit And He Can Be Hurt’

Australian bantamweight Jason Moloney knows he has a huge task ahead of him on Saturday night when he takes one of the world’s top pound-for-pound fighters in the form of Naoya Inoue.

The two will headline this weekend’s Top Rank card, which takes place inside ‘The Bubble’ at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Moloney will be attempting to capture the Japanese fighter’s WBA, IBF, and Ring magazine titles.

However, while he respects Inoue, he is confident that he has the ability and the gameplan to give Inoue the first loss of his career.

” I’ve got a lot of respect for him, and obviously, he’s got great power, but I see chinks in his armor,” Mololeny said during yesterday’s press conference.

” I think when he is extremely aggressive and obviously backs his power all the way. He does come in reckless at times, and he is there to be hit, and as [Nonito]Donaire showed, he can be hit, and he can be hurt.

” I just back my ability. It’s not like I am looking at Inoue and can see this big weakness, and I want to fight him for that reason. I want to fight him because I want to be the best.”

Moloney comes into this bout on the back of a seventh-round stoppage win over Leonardo Baez. The 29-year-old was fortunate enough to receive an exemption from the Australian government to fly out and compete in the USA back in June after the Covid-19 outbreak made international travel difficult.

After an impressive showing against Baez, Moloney stayed focused and trained hard in the gym while waiting for news of who he would fight next. After getting word that he would be facing Inoue, Moloney and his team have done all that could have done to ensure he is in the best shape possible ahead of his biggest fight to date.

“In terms of the sparring partners and the preparation, we’ve had a really good mix of sparring partners. We had some good sparring back home in Australia. I have had five different sparring partners that I have been switching through in the training camp over here in Vegas,” Moloney said.

“I couldn’t be more ready. This is the fight of my life, but this preparation has been the best preparation I have ever had.

“Physically and mentally, I have never been in this sort of mind frame and this sort of shape. I am absolutely ready to go, and I’m confident that after all these years, Saturday night is going to be the best night of my life.”

This weekend’s fight will be screened live on ESPN+ at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT. The co-main event will be a women’s WBO junior lightweight title bout between defending champion Ewa Brodnicka and Mikaela Mayer.

Who do you think wins this clash?