The ‘Monster’ is surfacing for more carnage on Halloween.
Japanese terror Naoya Inoue (19-0, 16 KOs) is set to defend his WBA Super and IBF bantamweight crowns against Australian Jason Moloney at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, on October 31.
“We’re still in talks and finalising the fight, but it appears we will be fighting Inoue for all his titles,” Moloney’s manager Tony Tolj told Steve Kim of ESPN.com.
Inoue had been scheduled to meet WBO title-holder John Riel Casimero in April, but sadly the Covid-19 Pandemic made that intriguing unification bout financially impossible to rearrange in the current economic climate. The Filipino banger will instead face Duke Micah on September 26.
“We would like to thank John Riel Casimero and Sean Gibbons [of MP Promotions]. We might actually send a Christmas hamper to the Philippines for making the [Moloney] fight happen,” wisecracked Tolj. “We don’t run from ‘the Monster’, we’re there to take him on.”
In June, Moloney (21-1, 18 KOs) halted Leonardo Baez in seven rounds in his Top Rank debut while Inoue was last in action outscoring Nonito Donaire in a thrilling WBSS Final in November 2019. The Moloney bout will be Inoue’s first appearance under the guidance of US promotional giants Top Rank.