Maloney Makes Easy Work of Saludar; Calls For a Match With Kazuto Ioka
At The Star Event Centre in Sydney, Australia, Andrew Moloney’s (22-2, 14 KOs) mission was to get back on the winning track as he stepped into the ring against Froilan Saludar (32-5-1, 22 KOs). It was also his homecoming, as he hasn’t fought in his native Australia since November of 2019.
Moloney is coming off a trilogy with Jonathan Franco. In June of 2020, the 30-year-old was on the losing end of a surprising loss, losing the WBA ‘interim’ world junior bantamweight title in the process. That followed with a disappointing two-round no-decision in November of that year. Franco scored a decisive win in their third fight in August of 2021.
Now he faced a Saludar, a former world title challenger and older brother of WBA ‘regular’ world 105 pound champ Vic Saludar. The 32-year-old from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Philippines is an aggressive fighter and had visions of playing the spoiler.
HAVING HIS WAY
The Filipino got off to a decent start in the opening round. But by round three, Moloney settled down and found his groove. He did some impressive work on the inside and had his opponent fighting on the back foot.
Saludar attempted to rally in the fifth, but could not sustain it. The local hero pinned him on the ropes, raking his head and body with a series of left hooks and right hands.
Moloney continued to press the action in the middle and late rounds. He did an excellent job of using the jab to set up the rest of his arsenal. What was particularly impressive was the left hook to the body, a punch he landed over and over. Saludar showed himself very durable but had no answers from the withering attack.
Too skilled and accurate was Moloney as he won by a comfortable unanimous decision (98-92, 99-91 twice). His class and work rate were far too much in a dominant performance. It was a nice bounce-back fight. Ranked by the WBA and the WBO at 115 pounds, he called for a match with current WBO world junior bantamweight champion Kazuto Ioka.
By: Michael Wilson Jr.
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