Andrew ‘The Monster’ Moloney 21-1 (14) was denied a victory over Joshua ‘El Profesor’ Franco 17-1-2 (8) due to some suspect officiating in their WBA ‘regular’ super flyweight title fight at ‘The Bubble’ at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night.
The 29-year-old Australian worked over titleholder Franco for two rounds before the 25-year-old from San Antonio, Texas was withdrawn from the fight on the doctor’s advice after his right eye was swollen shut.
The damage was clearly the result of Moloney’s educated jab and left hook as replays of the full fight showed. But referee Russell Mora mysteriously ruled the injury occurred from a phantom headclash.
The decision was sent to the Nevada Athletic Commission’s video review panel for clarification, who spent almost half an hour looking over the fight. Despite no evidence of a headclash occurring, they sided with their referee’s original decision.
Since four rounds were not completed, the fight was declared a no contest. It was arguably the most egregious decisions in a boxing ring this year.
“I can’t believe that they took this away from me. I’ve trained my arse off the last five months, been away from my family,” Moloney told ESPN.
“I can’t believe they didn’t give it to me. I can’t believe they’re taking this away from me.
“He did not touch me. That eye was closed by 50 jabs. That’s why his eye’s shut, not the headbutt. There was no headbutt.”
Promoter Bob Arum was ropable about the ruling, protesting to head of the NAC Bob Bennett to no avail.
“This is an absolute disgrace,” Arum said. “There was no headbutt. Andrew Moloney should be the new champion.”
CompuBox stats show Moloney controlled the fight and dominated all categories. He outlanded Franco with jabs 23 to five and with power punches 28 to 13.
Moloney was also the busier fighter, throwing 218 punches to Franco’s 78.
“There’s clear footage of me landing a jab on Franco where his eye was fine, the jab lands directly on his eye, he holds his eye, he lets his hand down and his eye is already swollen,” Moloney told Sporting News.
“I don’t know what more they needed to see on the replay. The instant replay is in use here in Nevada, and they used it, but they didn’t change the decision.
“I just don’t understand it.”
Moloney called out Mora for being unclear on his ruling during the fight and said he would have employed different tactics if he was aware of the headclash ruling.
“The referee hadn’t made it clear to us that it was an accidental headclash,” Moloney said.
“He should have told us that that was his ruling and I would have left the eye alone for another few rounds, and after four rounds I would have worked on the eye and it would have gone to the scorecards.
“They made no communication that was his ruling, so I celebrated thinking I’d won a TKO.
“But I knew it was a punch, that jab kept landing and the eye started to shut. I knew I was going to stop him.
“I just can’t believe they’ve robbed me of this moment. It hurts.”
Moloney and his team will meet with Arum on Monday to set the wheels in motion an official protest with a view to having the result overturned to a TKO victory.
The fight was a rematch of their June battle that saw Franco claim Moloney’s WBA strap by razor-thin decision.
