Australian world champion Jason Moloney puts his WBO bantamweight title on the line on Monday, May 6, when he faces Japanese contender Yoshiki Takei at Tokyo Dome. The bout serves as the co-feature to Naoya Inoue’s undisputed super bantamweight title defense against Luis Nery.
Riding a six-fight winning streak since his defeat against Inoue in October 2020, Jason Moloney (27-2, 19 KOs) makes the second defense of his belt. The 33-year-old native of Mitcham, Victoria is confident in his victory against Tokyo’s unbeaten 27-year-old southpaw Yoshiki Takei (8-0, 8 KOs).
“I’m excited to be here and to be able to fight, especially on this, the biggest event in Japanese boxing history at the Tokyo Dome,” Moloney said following a media workout. “This is a very exciting opportunity and one that I’ve trained extremely hard for to make it a very successful and memorable night in my life. And I’m very excited to be here, but I’m here for one job and that’s to defend my title and win this fight.”
“I’m expecting a hard fight, but I’ve put in the hard work to make sure I’m victorious.”
“His distance is different coming from a kickboxing background, so we prepared very hard for his unique style. He’s had eight fights and eight knockouts, and this is a big step up for him. It’s obvious his team has a lot of belief in his ability.”
“I need to put on a great performance, win this fight, and then I’m ready to unify with any of the other bantamweight champions. I want the big fights, and I have to beat Takei to make them happen.”
In the main event, Naoya Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) faces off Luis Nery (35-1, 27 KOs). The contest features Japan’s four-division world champion and two-weight undisputed king defending his undisputed 122 lbs title against two-division world champion of Mexico.