Jason Moloney may be the defending WBO bantamweight world champion, but the 33-year-old has unfinished business with another champion of the division.
In 2018, Moloney traveled to Florida to face defending IBF champion Emanuel Rodriguez.
This was only the second time Moloney had fought outside of Victoria, and his first professional bout outside Australia, but he almost pulled off a stunning upset.
Watch Moloney vs. Sanchez and Beterbiev vs. Smith on Sunday 14 January, at 12pm AEST | Order now with Main Event on Kayo Sports
After 12 intense rounds, many pundits and fans felt Moloney should have been awarded the win, but two ringside judges felt otherwise as Rodriguez picked up a widely controversial split decision victory.
Moloney is now a full world champion after capturing the WBO belt last year, but the loss to Rodriguez still stings.
“This is definitely something I need to get back before my career is over,” he said on the masthead before defending his title against Saul Sanchez on the undercard of the light heavyweight bout between Artur Beterbiev and Callum Smith this weekend.
“It still eats me up.
“Now I'm champion, it's not something to cry about, but if I watch it again, I still think I won the fight.”
Six years and 16 fights later, a rematch is now possible.
Rodriguez did not retain the IBF title for long after his narrow win over Moloney. The Puerto Rican was knocked down three times en route to a devastating second round knockout at the hands of the legendary Naiwa Inoue in his next fight.
Meanwhile, Moloney returned to Australia, scarred by the memory of his robbery, and rebuilt his career and won his own showdown with Inoue in 2020.
He lasted longer than Rodriguez, but the result was the same, as he stopped the Japanese star Moloney in the seventh round.
Once again, the Australian was back in the gym and worked his way into title contention, and after Inoue left the division, Moloney eventually edged out Vincent Astrolabio for the WBO title last year.
Three months later, Rodriguez defeated Melving Lopez to capture the IBF belt.
It sets up an exciting unification bout, which could even happen in Australia later this year.
“I know he wants the fight, I want him, and I hope we can get it,” Moloney said. “I'm very confident that I will beat him this time.
“What makes me want it even more is knowing how much I've improved since that fight.
“I know if we get there again, I'll beat the guy. I'm determined to make this fight happen.”
“Win (this weekend), and if it was up to me, I would have a unification bout in March or April in Australia.”
Beating Rodriguez also fits perfectly with Moloney's plans to take over the entire division.
“Once I won the world title, I didn’t feel as good as I had hoped,” he said. “Maybe because I know I'm capable of doing more.
“Although my dream was to become a world champion, I always felt it was an achievable dream and I wanted more.
“So, I was immediately thinking: ‘Let’s go undisputed, let’s go big.’”
“It's because I know I can achieve something like this – I truly believe I can beat everyone in the division.”
Firstly, Moloney knows he faces a tough task against the number one striker Sanchez.
“I know these fights and unity won't happen if I mess up this weekend,” he said. “I'm treating this like it's the toughest fight of my career.
“I know Sanchez will be hungry to fight for a world title, so I was in the gym and made huge sacrifices for this fight, being away from my family over the Christmas period.
“This has added fuel to the fire and I know his best is not enough to beat me.”
