Andrew Moloney has revealed he was haunted by memories of his heartbreaking 2020 world title defeat as he headed into the final round of his world championship battle in Japan.
The popular Aussie star completed a stunning comeback on Saturday night, edging Mexico’s Willibaldo Garcia by majority decision to claim the IBF super flyweight world championship and become a two-time world champion.
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The judges scored the fight 115-113, 115-113 and 114-114 after a brutal 12-round war.
But while Moloney ultimately had his hand raised, the 35-year-old said flashbacks to a previous title heartbreak fuelled his final-round charge.
“When I lost my world title in 2020, it came down to one round,” he told Fox Sports Australia on Monday from Japan.
“If I’d just won one more round, it would have been a draw and I would have kept the belt. That’s something that’s always been in the back of my mind.
“Going into that last round, I sort of had flashbacks to that. These things that are heartbreaking at the time, but end up being lessons – and you know that is probably what got me over the line in that last round.
“I knew I needed to push and secure the fight in that last round.”
The drama didn’t end when the final bell sounded, either.
Having previously been on the wrong end of several controversial scorecards throughout his career, Moloney said old scars resurfaced while he waited for the judges’ verdict.
“As they read out the decision, they read my name and it was in Japanese, so it was sort of hard to work out what they were saying,” he explained.
“I knew I got the decision on the first judge’s scorecard by one one point, 115-113, but a lot of the time when you hear a decision called out, the first person that’s called is generally the loser.
“So I thought, ‘Oh no, is this going to be a split decision to him?’ or ‘Is it going to be a draw?’
“I was just thinking, ‘Please, please, please, please, please.’
“Then when he raised my hand, it was pure emotion, mate.
“I can’t even watch footage of it now without getting tears in my eyes. It’s very special.”
Moloney, who sensationally quit the sport just over two years ago after a controversial loss, explained that the fight almost got scrapped just two weeks out.
“It’s been a crazy couple of weeks,” he said.
“The show was almost cancelled ten days out because they lost their major sponsor.
“The TV network over here [in Japan] did a deal and basically saved the show.
“But those few days while we were waiting to find out what was going on were very nerve-wracking.
“I put so much into that training camp, and I felt like this was my moment and it almost was taken away.”
Moloney started strongly and appeared to be in control of the fight early, but Garcia clawed his way back into the contest through the middle rounds.
“I felt I’d lost a little bit of momentum about three quarters the way through, and I had a feeling that that last round was going to be a deciding round,” he said.
“My corner told me, ‘The fight could be on the line here. We might need this round to win, so go out there and get it done.’
“I had to dig bloody deep in that last round, but there was no way I was going to let that slip away.”
The victory also vindicated Moloney’s decision to reject an offer worth almost $350,000 to step aside from the fight and allow unified champ Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez to pursue another unification bout.
The former Commonwealth Games gold medallist revealed details of the offer last week, saying his ‘dream was not for sale’.
“If I hadn’t have won this fight, that would have been something that I’d have to live with,” he said.
“I’m so happy that I backed myself, and I took that gamble on myself to get this done.
“Now I’ve got the world title, there’s going to be options, and there’s some exciting things ahead and we can make that money back in the future, hopefully – and hopefully a lot more.”
And how does this compare to his last world title?
“This is the best, without a doubt,” he said.
“Last time I was crowned world champion, I had to end up fighting for an interim world title, and then was notified over the phone that I’ve been elevated a few months later,” he said.
“It wasn’t how I’d pictured it – but this was. Beating the champion in the ring. Going in there as challenger and coming out as champion, that’s always the way I wanted to do it.
“I guess all the added things that have happened over the years, and the hardships and setbacks all made it even sweeter.
“To have a hard fight like I did, and come down to that last round of, I couldn’t have written it any better, to be honest.
“I’m over the moon.”
After retirement, controversy, near-misses and years of wondering whether another title shot would ever come, Moloney finally got the ending he had always imagined.
The newly crowned champ is still weighing up his next move, but admits an undisputed showdown with Jesse Rodriguez would be difficult to turn down.
“We’re going to wait until this weekend when ‘Bam’ Rodriguez fights and see what his plans are,” he said.
“He holds the other three titles in the division, so an undisputed fight against him would be absolutely massive.
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“It doesn’t get any bigger than that.
“But there’s talk about him potentially moving up and not returning to the division, so if that’s the case, we’ll look at other options.”