The victory lap never quite came for Jason Moloney, who had to contend with a busted hand suffered during his WBO bantamweight title win.

In that spirit, the primary goal for this weekend is an injury-free win in his first title defense. That coupled with his first career fight in Canada could make for a more festive post-fight atmosphere.

“Geez, I haven’t really thought too much about it,” Moloney told krikya360.com, with a laugh when posed with the question. “It will be strictly business before the fight, once my hand is raised I’m sure I’ll indulge in some traditional Canadian foods and the team will all celebrate with a few Molson Canadian beers.

“I didn’t get the chance to celebrate after I won the title in May so I’m keen to enjoy this one with the team and everyone who has helped me get to this position.”

Australia’s Moloney (26-2, 19KOs) risks his WBO bantamweight title versus California’s Saul Sanchez (20-2, 12KOs) this Saturday atop an ESPN+ preliminary undercard from Center Videotron in Quebec City. The bout precedes an ESPN-televised doubleheader headlined by the Artur Beterbiev-Callum Smith lineal/WBC/IBF/WBO light heavyweight championship.

The first defense comes eight months to the day of Moloney’s vacant WBO title win over the Philippines’ Vincent Astrolabio last May 13 in Stockton, California. A career-long dream was realized but also came at a price, as he fought through a damaged hand for more than eight rounds. It put him on the shelf for the duration of 2023 and left with just one fight for the year after a three-fight 2022 campaign to re-enter title contention.

The downtime was obviously not by choice. Additionally, the timing of this fight meant having to train through the holiday season while his birthday celebration (33 on Tuesday) is spent remaining on course to make weight.

“The long break was difficult as I love to be active and fight as much as possible,” noted Moloney. “But I’m happy that my hand is now back to 100%. I was very diligent with the rehab and exercise and it’s built back nice and strong.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox