PROMISING prospect Judy Flores is in for the toughest fight of his career as he trades leathers with former interim World Boxing Association (WBA) super flyweight titleholder Andrew Moloney in a 10-rounder on Dec. 9, 2023 at the Pullman Hotel in Victoria, Australia.
The 25-year-old Flores is looking to pull an upset against an experienced Moloney and move up the 115-pound division ladder.
Moloney is currently ranked No. 9 by the World Boxing Council and No. 10 by the WBO, while Flores is rated No. 15 by the WBA.
“He’s ready to go,” Flores’ coach Nonito Donaire Sr. told VoxPop Cebu. “He has a huge chance of winning. He just needs to remain busy with his punches.”
Flores suffered his first and only career defeat last year. He lost to one-time world title challenger Antonio Nieves by unanimous decision in the United States. Since then, Flores won three fights in a row. He defeated Rodel Sunquit, Jonathan Taconing and Jerald Palcar.
“Moloney is easy to hit and can’t handle a solid punch,” said Donaire Sr. “As long as he will follow the game plan then he has a huge chance of winning.”
The 32-year-old Moloney dropped his last fight after losing to WBO super flyweight champion Junto Nakatani by a 12th round knockout on May 20 in the US.
Moloney won the interim WBA super flyweight belt in 2019 after an eighth round stoppage of Elton Dharry in Australia. He was in a trilogy with Joshua Franco for the WBA super flyweight belt. He lost twice, while one fight ended in a no contest.
Flores is 13-1 with seven knockouts, while Moloney is 25-3 with 16 knockouts.
