TOKYO – It did not take long for Jason Moloney to realise how good Naoya Inoue was when they boxed in in the Las Vegas Bubble in 2020 for the WBA and IBF bantamweight belts.

Moloney, who has gone on to win the WBO bantamweight title, was destroyed by a right-hand thunderbolt as the seventh round of their fight was set to close. 

“I’d heard how good he was, but as soon as I was in the ring with him, I didn’t feel completely out of my depth but I knew how good he was,” admitted the Australian. 

“The shots he was catching me with I didn’t even see. He is a master at controlling the fight, controlling the distance and dictating the fight. So I knew how good he was and as soon as he moved up to 122 I knew there was no one there who could beat him, and the same at 126. I don’t think he will have any trouble cleaning out 126.”

Inoue is dubbed the “Monster”, and he has racked up 23 of his 26 wins by stoppage. He fights Luis Nery at a sold-out Tokyo Dome in Tokyo on Monday (May 6) night, and Moloney is on the bill, defending his title against Yoshiki Takei.

“Early in the fight, I knew what I was coming in against,” Moloney added, thinking back to 2020. “And the talk about his power, and I was catching a few on the gloves and a few were sneaking through and I thought to myself, ‘Yeah, this isn’t anything that we haven’t felt before. I can take this’. 

“But when he wants to, and I guess when he loads his shots, it’s not like a Triple G [Gennady Golovkin] or a Canelo [Alvarez] thud, it’s just an explosive crack, a real snap in his punches and just a perfect blend of technique, speed and timing.”

Fighting in The Bubble meant Moloney did not face what Nery has been experiencing in Tokyo, where he is very-much part of the supporting cast of the Inoue show. The Mexican is seemingly unfazed, and Moloney thinks the challenger will give a good account of himself, too. 

“I probably didn’t get the full magnitude of an Inoue event, but being over here I’d imagine it’s all about Inoue,” Moloney said. “And look, everyone’s excited to see what Nery brings to the table. He’ll come over to fight and he’ll have a good crack and make for an exciting fight, but I don’t think too many people think Inoue’s going to come short on this one. He’s too good.”

After boxing Inoue, did Moloney think he could move up in weight and defeat the likes of Stephen Fulton as impressively as he did? 

“Yes, I did,” Moloney replied, without hesitation. “I took that fight knowing how good that guy was. I wanted to test myself against the best and I knew it was an incredible opportunity.”