Jason Moloney vs Yoshiki Takei Preview May 6th, 2024
WBO Bantamweight Champion Jason Moloney of Australia defends the title for the second time when he takes on unbeaten Yoshiki Takei of Japan this Monday, May 6th. The 12-round fight from the Tokyo Dome can be seen live in America on ESPN+ at 4 am ET on the undercard of the Naoya Inoue vs Luis Nery battle while UK and Irish fans can see it on Sky Sports Action at 9 am. Moloney last fought in January when he beat Saul Sanchez by a majority decision. Moloney had beaten Vincent Astrolabio via a majority decision in a rather dull affair last May to win the vacant title. Takei last boxed in December when stopped Mario Diaz Maldonado in the second round.
Moloney vs Takei Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Yoshiki Takei +110
- Jason Moloney -140
My Pick
The 33-year-old Moloney enters the ring with a mark of 27-2 with 19 Ko’s. His first defeat came at the hands of IBF World Champion Emmanuel Rodriguez of Puerto Rico in October, 2018 when he dropped a split decision and he was stopped by Naoya Inoue in the seventh round in October, 2020 in a shot at the WBA Super World, and IBF Bantamweight Titles. Moloney turned pro in 2014 after an amateur career and has boxed 174 rounds since.
As a pro, he won the vacant Oriental and Pacific WBA Silver Super Bantamweight Title in 2017 and the vacant British Commonwealth Bantamweight Title in 2018, Moloney added the vacant WBC Silver Bantamweight Belt in August, 2021 when he beat Joshua Greer Jr by a 10-round unanimous decision and then the vacant WBO International Bantamweight Crown in June, 2022 when he stopped Aston Palicte in the third round. Moloney has displayed solid power up to now as 70.4 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage but has gone the distance in five of his last six fights.
He had won four straight contests by stoppage until running into ‘The Monster’ Inoue from Japan however. Besides Rodriguez and Inoue Moloney hasn’t really fought any world-class opponents but handled himself well in his three world title shots, especially against Rodriguez in October, 2018 when the fight could have gone either way for the IBF Title. Moloney stands 5-feet-5-inches tall with a 65-inch reach and also has wins over Leonardo Baez and Dixon Flores. He’s a solid pro who finally got over the hump when it comes to winning a world belt by edging Astrolabio.
As for Takei, he’s a 27-year-old southpaw who has fought just 26 rounds since making his pro debut in 2021. He is a former kickboxer who held the K-1 Super Bantamweight Championship between 2017 and 2020, and was the 2017 and 2019 K-1 Super Bantamweight Grand Prix Champion. Takei retired from kickboxing in late 2020 and at the time, he was the top-ranked 122 lb boxer and eighth best pound-for-pound kickboxer in the world.
He makes the ring walk with a perfect mark of 8-0 with 8 Ko’s and won the Oriental and Pacific Super Bantamweight title in his fifth fight when he stopped Pete Apolinar in the fifth round in August, 2022. It’s quite obvious that Takei has exceptional power as he’s stopped every opponent. This includes three first-round stoppages; two in the second round; one in the third; one in the fifth and one in the 11th. His victories have come against Apolinar, Kazunori Takai, Azusa Takeda, Kazuhiro Imamura, Shingo Kawamura, Bruno Tarimo, Ronnie Baldonado and Mario Diaz Maldonado.
Takei measures 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 68-inch reach which means he possesses a two-inch height advantage om Moloney as well as three inches in reach. There’s no question Takei has successfully made the transition from kickboxing to boxing. He’s stopped every opponent and is fighting for a world title in just his ninth pro contests, however he will be taking a step up in class against Moloney on Monday.
Prediction…
Both boxers have fine skills with Takei being six years younger than Moloney and possesses more power and is also the bigger man. He’ll also be fighting at home in the 55,000-seat Tokyo Dome and facing an opponent in Moloney who hasn’t really looked that sharp in his last two fights, winning them by majority decisions. Even though he lacks Moloney’s boxing experience, I have a feeling Takei may take Moloney by surprise here and leave the ring with his belt.
Takei’s power and the fact he’s fighting at home could make the difference.
Play: Takei +110 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Jason Moloney betting • Yoshiki Takei betting