Jason Moloney stopped Leonard Baez after round seven of their scheduled 10-round bantamweight bout at The MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
In round three, Baez was cut around the left eye. Moleny landed power punches against the hard swinging Baez. Moloney slowly beat down Baez until Baez pulled the plug on the fight after complaining of breathing issues.
Moloney, 117.7 lbs of Kingscliff, AUS is now 21-1 with 18 knockouts. Baez, 118.3 lbs of Mexicali, MEX is now 18-3.
“That was the greatest moment of my career. It was tough watching my brother the other night, but I knew I had a job to do,” Moloney said. “Thank you to my team. I sacrificed so much for six weeks, leaving my fiancée and my baby. I’m just over the moon.
“My brother told me he loved me and that he was proud of me. He’ll be back better than ever. Trust me.”
World-Ranked Abraham Nova won a 10-round unanimous decision over Avery Sparrow in a junior lightweight clash.
Nova out-landed Sparrow 112-60, and went on to win by scores of 99-91, 97-93 and 96-94.
Nova, 131.9 lbs of Albany, NY is 19-0. Sparrow, 131.5 lbs of Philadelphia is now 10-2.
“Sparrow was slippery in there and tough to hit. I had to be patient and search for my openings. In the last few rounds, I began to time him, and that won me the fight,” Nova said. “Listen, this was a learning experience. I’ll be ready for the top guys in the 130-pound division very, very soon.”
Orlando Gonzalez remained undefeated by winning a eight-round unanimous decision over Luis Porozo in a featherweight.
In round two, Gonzalez dropped Porozo with a straight left to the head.
In round seven, Gonzalez dropped Porozo with a right hook.
Gonzalez, 126 lbs of Aguadilla, PR won by scores of 77-83 and 76-74 twice, and is now 15-0. Porozo, 125 lbs of Santo Domingo, ECU is 15-3.
Vlad Panin won a six-round majority decision over Benjamin Whitaker in a welterweight bot.
Panin, 149 lbs of Los Angeles, CA won by scores of 58-56 twice and 57-57 and is now 8-1. Whitaker, 149 lbs of San Antonio, TX 13-4.
Reymond Yanong won a six-round split decision over Clay Burns in a welterweight bout.
Yanong, 143 lbs of Paranaraque, PHL won by scores 59-55 and 58-56; Burns took a card 58-56.
Yanong is 11-5-1. Burns, 143.6 lbs of Alexandria, LA is 9-8-2.
Kingsley Ibeh stopped Waldo Cortes in round four of their scheduled six-round heavyweight bout.
In round four, Ibeh landed four hard uppercuts to the chin that startled Cortes. Ibeh dropped Cortes with a right hook that put him down, and the fight was stopped at 1:41.
Ibeh, 286.4 lbs of Phoenix avenged his only defeat and is now 4-1 with all wins coming by stoppage. Cortes, 246.9 lbs of Phoenix is 5-3.
