Australia's Jason “Mayhem” Moloney is all set for his Zuffa Boxing debut as he looks to force his way back to the top of the bantamweight division. The former WBO champion, 29-4 for his career, has been operating at a world-class level for the last decade, and knows exactly what it takes to earn, and win, world title fights. Now he’s ready to return to the world stage in a bid to earn a second world title. “It’s been a couple of years since I've fought internationally,” said Moloney ahead of his matchup against Andres Teran in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this weekend. “I’m back overseas now, back fighting on big cards, and back where I want to be. Big fights, worldwide recognition, and a huge platform.”
After unsuccessful title tilts against IBF champion Emmanuel Rodriguez in 2018, and unified WBA / IBF champion Naoya Inoue in 2020, Moloney finally achieved his dream of becoming a world champion in 2023 when he outpointed Vincent Astrolabio in Stockton, California, to capture the vacant WBO crown. However, after registering a successful title defense, he lost his title on the scorecards against Yoshiki Takei in Tokyo, Japan. Then, in his attempt to bounce back swiftly, he was edged out by former kickboxing superstar Tenshin Nasukawa.
After suffering back-to-back defeats for the first time, Moloney returned home to Australia and got back in the win column with successive victories over Herlan Gomez and Andre Donovan. Now Moloney has signed with Zuffa Boxing, and will make his promotional debut Saturday night, November 14th in Riyadh, where he’ll take on Mexico's Andres Teran (19-2) on Zuffa Boxing 13. “This is a very important fight for me,” he said. “It’s my first fight with Zuffa, fighting the WBA world number two, so a big win here will get me in line for another title shot.”
Moloney got the chance to watch his opponent from close quarters when he was in attendance at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas for Teran’s Zuffa Boxing debut. The Mexican was down on all three cards against the undefeated Floyd Diaz when he turned the fight on its head with a stunning sixth-round TKO finish. Now he’ll provide the opposition for Moloney’s Zuffa Boxing debut, and the Aussie knows he has to step up and deliver to keep his championship dream alive.
“I was actually at his last fight live, when I was in Las Vegas meeting the guys at Zuffa, and Teran obviously won the fight there when I was there, and they said, ‘This is most likely your opponent next,’” Moloney recalled. “So yeah, I've had my eye on him since then, and done a lot of study, and I know what he brings to the table. He's a dangerous opponent, but I'm going to really make sure I put on a great performance and look spectacular… This fight is do or die. Twenty-two years I’ve been boxing, dedicated to the sport since Day 1. This guy's trying to take away everything I've ever built and everything I've ever worked for… These Mexicans, they don't give up. For the whole fight, he'll be trying to put pressure on. But I think, with my experience and my skill, I should be able to break him down and tear him apart.”
“A win keeps my dream alive, and another world title gets that much closer. A loss? That could be the end of the road. That scares the s*** out of me. That pushes me to dig deep and push myself to my limits every day.”
With Moloney well aware of the high stakes heading into the contest, he’s thrown himself into the toughest training camp of his career, and said that he’s taken his preparation to new levels in a bid to ensure he’s at his peak on fight night. “I think I've trained harder for this fight than I have for any fight,” he said. “I marked a spot on my calendar 12 weeks out, and I've been pushing myself to the absolute limit and making sure that the version that I bring to the ring on November 14 is the best, most explosive, most aggressive, most exciting, most dangerous fighter I've ever been.”
It’s a chance for the 35-year-old New South Wales native to propel himself right back into championship contention, and potentially join his brother, IBF super-flyweight champion Andrew, as a world champion once again. For that to happen, he knows he needs to deliver in Riyadh to put himself within striking distance.
And as he gets ready to make the walk to the Zuffa Boxing ring for the first time, Moloney is ready to showcase a little bit of “Mayhem” by adopting an approach he says his opponent will have no answer for. “My style, it’s hard to deal with, because I can do a bit of everything,” he said. “When I’m fighting him out long and using my speed, but I’ll also come in there and fight him on the inside and break him down and hit him with shots he’s never felt before. So, trying to deal with everything I bring to the table, I don’t think he can handle it.”
