Andrew Moloney Beats Willibaldo Garcia To Win IBF World Title

Andrew Moloney completed a remarkable return to the summit by outpointing Willibaldo Garcia over twelve hard rounds in Tokoname, Japan, to win the IBF super flyweight title by majority decision.

The Australian, who had briefly walked away from boxing after his painful defeat to Pedro Guevara in 2024, was given the verdict by scores of 115-113 on two cards, with the third judge unable to split them at 114-114. It was close, honest and at times untidy, but Moloney did enough in the cleaner moments to leave Japan with a world title belt and the sort of redemption story boxing occasionally remembers to provide.

Garcia, making the first defence of the title he won against Rene Calixto, fought like a man determined to impose himself from the opening bell. He pressed forward, threw with ambition and tried to turn the contest into a test of will rather than geometry. That was understandable enough, because Moloney’s better work came when he had room to think, turn and counter.

For much of the first half, Moloney boxed with commendable discipline. He did not try to match Garcia’s aggression for the sake of appearances. Instead, he took half-steps back, picked his counters and worked neatly on both head and body. Garcia was busy, but too much of his pressure was straight-lined, allowing Moloney to catch him as he came in.

That early control proved vital. Moloney was reported to have taken five of the first six rounds on all three cards, and while Garcia was never being humiliated, he was being made to pay for his forward march. Moloney’s counters had more polish, his shot selection was tidier, and he looked the more composed operator when the exchanges were at mid-range.

The fight changed after the midway point. Garcia, to his credit, did not accept the pattern. From the seventh round onwards, he forced the pace with greater urgency and began to make the champion-in-waiting uncomfortable. Moloney, who had looked controlled earlier, started to show the marks of a much rougher argument, with cuts above both eyes by the eighth.

That gave the closing rounds their tension. Garcia was no longer merely following Moloney around the ring. He was making him work, holding his ground, and dragging him into exchanges the Australian would rather have avoided. Moloney had to show something beyond neat boxing. He had to show nerve.

The twelfth round proved decisive. With the fight still there to be won, Moloney found enough order amid the pressure to take the session on all three cards. It was not a grandstand finish full of wild heroics, but it was exactly what he needed: concentration, cleaner punching and the refusal to let a title chance slip away in the final three minutes.

Garcia will feel bitterly disappointed, and understandably so. He pressed hard, rallied strongly and made a serious defence of his belt. But there is a difference between pressure and effective pressure, and over the full distance, Moloney’s cleaner counters and stronger finish just shaded it.

For Moloney, now a two-time world champion, this was a career-restoring victory. The emotional reaction afterwards told its own story. Boxing can be a cruel trade, particularly to fighters who have already known controversial defeat and temporary retirement, but here it gave Moloney the ending he had travelled to Japan to claim.

He immediately spoke of wanting Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, which is ambitious, bordering on hazardous. Rodriguez is a problem of a different class altogether. But that is for another night. This one belonged to Moloney, who came through cuts, pressure and a late rally to win a narrow but deserved decision.