Hall of Famer Jeff Fenech says Jason Moloney 27-3 (19) missed his chance to defeat Yoshiki Takei 9-0 (8) by waiting to long to apply the pressure.
Australia’s Moloney, 33, had his hands full with Takei in the second defence of his WBO bantamweight belt, with the 27-year-old Japanese southpaw owning centre ring and marching forward for the first half of the bout.
Takei began to slow down in the later rounds and Moloney, who was facing just his second lefthanded boxer in his 30-fight, 10-year pro career, came on strong in the 11th and unloaded both cannons in the 12th.
It was too little too late though, with Takei being crowned the champion by unanimous decision with scores of 117-110 and 116-111 twice after being docked a point in the early rounds for straying low with body shots.
Fenech says he say he would have instructed Moloney to go to war with Takei as early as the eighth round.
“The Japanese kid got tired near the end. In my honest opinion, he was tired as and Moloney didn’t do nothing until the last round,” Fenech told Wide World of Sports.
“The instructions he got in between rounds were terrible, that’s my opinion. I know those guys. What I saw in the eighth round was a tired guy and if he would have jumped on him, there’s no doubt Moloney would have stopped him and retained the title.
“These guys aren’t paying Moloney to go to Tokyo unless they thought he (Moloney) couldn’t win. It was a crazy decision by those guys.
“I know the Japanese kid only had eight fights, but he can fight. It wasn’t a good move to take that fight.”
Fenech added that he doesn’t think the current golden age of Aussie boxing is over just yet, despite Ring Magazine cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia 24-0 (19) being stripped of his IBF title last year and Tim Tszyu 24-1 (17) losing his WBO junior middleweight strap to towering southpaw Sebastian Fundora 21-1 (13) via majority decision in March.
“It’s sad that we’ve lost those world titles but Australian boxing is still strong. We need people who know about our sport,” Fenech said.
“Jai will be world champion again. Boxing just rorted Jai. I’m happy for [recently crowned WBC featherweight champion] Skye [Nicholson].
“Like Tim Tszyu, that fight should have been finished in the fourth round and he’s still the world champion. The doctor should have called that off.
“It’s not always how we want it to be, but there are rules and laws and if you know how to make the most of them, Tim would still be world champion.”
Opetaia will face former three-time cruiserweight champion Mairis Briedis 28-2 (20) of Latvia in a rematch with the vacant IBF title on the line in Saudi Arabia on May 18.
Tszyu will return to action against undefeated American Vergil Ortiz Jr 21-0 (21) in Los Angeles on August 3.
