Aussie October wrap-up

WBSS MASTERMIND PREDICTS BRIGHT FUTURE FOR JASON MOLONEY AFTER IBF WORLD TITLE LOSS

It wasn’t the result he wanted but Australian bantamweight Jason ‘The Smooth One’ Moloney 17-1 (14) received some much needed support in the wake of his heartbreaking split decision loss to IBF 118-pound boss Emmanuel Rodriguez 19-0 (12) in the quarterfinals of the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) at the CFE Arena in Orlando, Florida on Saturday night.

Kalle Sauerland, the chief boxing officer of promotional outfit Comosa, singled out the 27-year-old contender for praise after the fast-paced 12-round fight that was awarded to the Puerto Rican champion by scores of 113-115 and 115-113 twice.

“The was a ‘Fight of the Year’ contender,” enthused Sauerland, who liked what he saw of the tenacious challenger. “Congrats to Rodriguez and what a challenge from Moloney. He doesn’t have to worry; he will become world champion very soon.”

Moloney was vying to become Australia’s fourth world bantamweight champion alongside Hall of Famer Jeff Fenech, indigenous great Lionel Rose and the nation’s first ever world boxing champion Jimmy Carruthers, but on this night it wasn’t to be.

The closely-fought contest saw the superbly fit Moloney rally back from an early deficit to take over in the second half of the bout. In a tremendous show of will and skill, Moloney finished the stronger of the two to prove he belongs at world class level.

Despite his strong showing, Moloney was shattered by the result.

“I am devastated,” he said after suffering his first professional loss. “After the fifth round I came on very strong and I believe I won most if not all of the remaining rounds.

“I hope I can achieve my dream and become world champion very soon.”

Moloney might have dodged a bullet with the result as the winner is set to face dominant Japanese bomber Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue 17-0 (15) in the semi-final of the WBSS early next year.

Inoue, who has won versions of the world title at 108, 115 and 118-pounds, is the short-priced favourite to take out the coveted Muhammad Ali Trophy. In his own quarterfinal fight he took out the normally durable Juan Carlos Payano20-2 (9) in a single round with the first two clean punches of the contest.

“The cuts and bruises will heal, but I’ll never forget the pain of losing,” said Moloney. “This has only made me more hungry and more determined to become world champion.”

Don’t be surprised if Moloney gets the call up should another boxer in the tournament withdraw from injury. Alternatively, the winner of the tourney could opt to move up in weight in search of further paydays, opening the door for a quality competitor like Moloney to claim a vacant title.

Either way the future looks bright for the gutsy bantam, who won a lot of fans with his performance on the biggest stage of all.

MARK ‘BAM BAM’ FLANAGAN IMPRESSIVE IN DEFEAT AGAINST ARSEN ‘FEROZ’ GOULAMIRIAN IN FRANCE

In an entertaining slugfest reminiscent of Jeff ‘Hitman’ Harding’s world title exploits, rugged North Queenslander Mark ‘Bam Bam’ Flanagan 24-6 (17) gave as good as he got for eight rounds before succumbing to the firepower of Arsen ‘Feroz’ Goulamirian 24-0 (16) in the ninth round of their WBA interim cruiserweight title fight at the Palais de Sports in Marseille, France on Saturday night.

The hard-headed Townsville product learnt from his loss to veteran Russian world champion Denis Lebedev last year, letting his hands go early and often against the Armenian-born French citizen who trains out of Big Bear, California under master coach Abel Sanchez.

The left rip was a particularly effective weapon for Flanagan, who cracked Goulamirian to the ribs with that punch no less than nine times in the opening frame.

The 31-year-old Goulamirian, making the first defence of the interim crown he won against previously undefeated Ryad Merhy in March, was urged on by his Mexican trainer Sanchez between the third and fourth rounds after the Aussie powerhouse got the better of the early going.

“I don’t want to be here too long,” said Sanchez, urging Goulamirian to lift.

Goulamirian responded in the fourth round, going punch-for-punch with Flanagan.

In the fifth Goulamirian continued to apply the pressure, walking Flanagan down and having particular luck with the right cross. With less than 40 seconds to go a chopping right cross from Goulamirian visibly hurt the Australian.

Despite the titleholder’s apparent ascendancy Sanchez again impressed the urgency on his charge.

“We can’t wait on him,” he said. “We have to throw more than one. Don’t rely on the right hand… Don’t let him land so much. You’re landing one, he’s landing four.”

The sixth saw Goulamirian work behind a thudding, blinding jab that he used to good effect to disguise his big right hand, but Flanagan remained largely unmoved by his power, fighting back in spurts. Blood starts to trickle from Flanagan’s nose midway through the round but the Australian surprises with a five-punch combination late in the frame.

In the seventh round Goulamirian finally got the breakthrough, walking Flanagan down who was finally started to show the effects of the relentless pressure he was being subjected to. The titleholder’s superior size and power was finally coming in to play.

“Finish him. Finish him, okay? This round, he’s ready to go,” pleaded Sanchez in the corner between rounds. “You understand me, finish this. He’s a tough guy, but he’s ready to go. Trust me.”

Somehow, someway Flanagan found a way to hang tough in the eighth. Just when it appeared Goulamirian was getting on top of the brave Aussie he would rally back and surprise the local hero with two and three hurtful punches of his own, even drawing a trickle of blood from the nose defending titleholder.

Sanchez continued to rally his troop in the corner.

“You’re throwing one or two and he’s throwing a lot more, you understand this?” he said. “This is a very close fight, trust me.”

Goulamirian continued to pour on the pressure in the ninth until he caught a tiring Flanagan along the ropes, bludgeoning him to the canvas. Flanagan was quickly to his feet, but Goulamirian caught him on the ropes again and unleashed a fusillade that again crumpled him to the matt.

Again the rugged Queenslander easily beat the count, but Goulamirian was quickly on him again and the corner wisely threw in the towel to save their man from any further punishment.

It was a brave stand by a brave man.

“The better man won tonight,” said Flanagan. “It’s heartbreaking to say the least but it was a very good hard fight, a war from bell to bell.

“I’m proud of my effort and corner for doing what they thought was right.”

JAMIE WEETCH WARNS DENNIS HOGAN HE HAS BITTEN OFF MORE THAN HE CAN CHEW

IBF number 15 ranked junior middleweight Jamie Weetch 12-2 (5) believes that leading WBO 154-pound contender Dennis ‘Hurricane’ Hogan 27-1-1 (7) has made a grave mistake in agreeing to face him while waiting for his shot at undefeated Mexican knockout artist and WBO world champion Jaime Munguia 31-0 (26).

The Perth-based Welshman says he doesn’t care what prompted Hogan to take such a dangerous fight with a world title opportunity on the horizon but he expects to take full advantage when the pair meet at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre on December 15.

“To be perfectly honest I don’t care about his reasons,” said the 29-year-old in an exclusive interview with Maxboxing. “You’d have to ask him that. Anyone who knows boxing in Australia knows this is dangerous fight for him so fair play to him for taking it.

“I hope he’s overlooked me. It will be a very short night for him if he has.”

The fight contract was negotiated quickly and privately and took a lot of people by surprise when the bout was announced.

“I leave all negotiations to my manager Anto Connolly and my coach Justin Lacey,” said Weetch, who was last in action in July when he wiped out limited journeyman Rocky Alap Alap of Indonesia in under a round in July.

“They line them up, I knock them over. Negotiations took a few weeks I believe, but the fight won’t last three rounds. Mark my words – he’s going to sleep early.”

Weetch learnt his craft as an amateur boxer in his native Cwmcarn, Wales before graduating to the unlicensed boxing circuit in the United Kingdom where he fought a mixture of aspiring professionals, pub brawlers and local hardmen. The fights were frequent and the money was good – £250 a fight and a percentage of the gate, with fights available most weeks if he wanted them. On a good week he could pull in £500, enough for a month’s rent.

Then at 22 fate intervened and dramatically altered the course of his life.

An escalation in decade-long family feud resulted in him being stabbed in the neck and shot in the face with a pellet pistol in two separate incidents, precipitating his move Down Under where he quickly found refuge professional boxing. 

These experiences have hardened his resolve and what he lacks in professional pedigree is more than made up for with his toughness and tenacity.

“I’ve faced men twice my size in unlicensed boxing fights in the UK and put them to sleep,” he said. “I’ve been stabbed and left for dead in my early twenties, I’ve had to relocate to Australia just to get a fair crack at making it in this game.

“I don’t have a promoter. There’s been occasions where I’ve had to get in the ring knowing I’m not going to make any money from the fight for various reasons – every time I’ve went in there and got the job done.

“This is my opportunity to show Australia who the best light middleweight in the country is – spoiler alert, it’s me.”

The 33-year-old Hogan, a transplanted Irishman now living in Brisbane, has defeated two top-10 opponents in a row – WBO number three Jimmy Kilrain Kelly in April and WBO number seven and IBF number five Yuki Nonaka in October last year – trumping them both by unanimous decision.

While Hogan is the leading contender in the WBO ratings and is angling for a shot at their heavy-handed young champion Munguia, a win over Weetch could elevate his IBF number three ranking with the New Jersey-based sanctioning body whose champion Jarrett Hurd 22-0 (15) also holds

the WBA belt.

Victory for Weetch will likely catapult him into the IBF top 10 rankings.

Hogan has all the late round experience against Weetch, with no less than 10 of his pro fights going the full 10 or 12 round distance. By contrast Weetch has been extended 10 rounds just once.

Weetch, who has had half the number of fights and almost a third the number of pro rounds as Hogan, says he expects the hometown fighter to try to box him but insists that he will be ready for any style of fight that Hogan brings on the night.

“I’m a boxer-puncher. I can fight equally as well on the front foot or back foot. Truth be told, I love to have a good old-fashioned tear-up,” he said.

“I’d love it if Hogan met me in the centre of the ring for a firefight, but I know for a fact he won’t do that so I’ve got myself a pair of marathon shoes to hunt his Irish ass down if I need to.”

Last week Hogan revealed to Maxboxing that he expects to be the second Hogan to defeat Weetch, who dropped his first professional contest on points to middleweight southpaw Sam Hogan.

Not surprisingly, Weetch has a different take on this.

“Last time Dennis fought in December he was bounced from one end of the ring to the other by Jack Culcay [for the interim WBA title in Germany three years ago],” said Weetch.

“I hope Dennis isn’t superstitious,” he added.

Also on the DDP Sports card WBO number six and IBF number 15 rated super middleweight Rohan ‘No Mercy’ Murdock 23-1 (17) will be back in the ring when he fights for the vacant WBO Oriental title against an opponent to be named. It will be the 26-year-old from the Gold Coast’s fifth fight in 14 months after a year on the sidelines due to injuries.

In other action Brisbane’s Deanha ‘The Silencer’ Hobbs 7-0 (5) will face off against Baby Nansen 7-3-1 of Auckland for the vacant WBO Asia Pacific super featherweight title over eight two-minute rounds. The entertaining, big-punching Hobbs – a natural 130-pounder – is coming off a stunning first round TKO of previously undefeated Aimee Addis 4-1 in a fight for the vacant Australian 154-pound title in July.

Meanwhile another intriguing trans-Tasman clash has been added with ambitious Brisbane super middleweight Adam ‘The Candyman’ Copland 3-0 (1) taking on talented Aucklander Mose Auimatagi Jr 11-1-2 (7) over six rounds.