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Steve KimESPN
After losing his WBA junior bantamweight crown to Joshua Franco on June 23 in a hard-fought battle, Andrew Moloney is going to get a rematch, he announced Thursday.
“I’m extremely excited to announce that I will be having a rematch with Joshua Franco,” Moloney said in a post on Twitter. “… I worked my whole life to get that World Title and I’m now hungrier than ever to get it back!”
I’m extremely excited to announce that I will be having a rematch with Joshua Franco.
I want to say a huge thanks to @BobArum and the @trboxing team for giving me this opportunity. I worked my whole life to get that World Title and I’m now hungrier than ever to get it back! pic.twitter.com/Jxz2tuAtDy— Andrew Moloney (@AndrewMoloney) July 2, 2020
Carl Moretti, vice president of boxing operations for Top Rank, confirmed that there is a rematch clause but said a date has not yet been set for the second fight.
“We agreed to an option,” said Eric Gomez, the president of Golden Boy Promotions, which represents Franco. “If that’s the fight they want to do, then yeah, by all means. We just need the details.”
Franco (17-1-2, 8 KOs) won a spirited battle with a strong second-half surge at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas. The bout was fought on pretty even terms in the early rounds, but the 24-year-old Franco got stronger as the night went on.
He knocked down Moloney, 29, in the 11th round, which was pivotal as he ended up winning by scores of 114-113, 114-113 and 115-112.
Moloney (21-1, 14 KOs) suffered perforated eardrums and began vomiting after the fight, leading to a precautionary trip to the hospital.
Tony Tolj, Moloney’s manager, told ESPN that his fighter wants the immediate rematch.