Andrew Moloney has moved one step closer towards getting his shot at the WBA super flyweight title.
The undefeated Australian knocked out Miguel Gonzalez in the eighth round on a boxing card in Chile to become the new mandatory challenger to the WBA title. Yafai currently holds the title and has held the title since 2015.
Moloney scored the knockout late in the eighth round with a stiff left hook to the chin that sent Gonzalez to the canvas and unable to remain stable when he got back up. This came after Moloney slipped and fell down in the sixth round, but it was ruled a knockdown despite Gonzalez not actually landing a punch that would even warrant a knockdown ruling. Moloney needed the knockout victory to avoid any controversy as he was down on two of the three judges' scorecards and things were even on the third scorecard.
The 28-year-old now becomes the mandatory challenger to Yafai's belt, but won't be getting that shot any time soon. Yafai was previously ordered by the WBA to fight Norbelto Jimenez, the current mandatory challenger. Yafai and Jimenez appear headed towards a title fight this summer, but that has yet to be officially announced.
As for Moloney, he had been trying for months to get Yafai to agree to a fight, but his call-outs have pretty much gone unnoticed. Last year, Moloney told Fightful that he would be willing to travel anywhere to fight Yafai and back in January, Fightful spoke to Moloney again and said he hoped to take the fight against Gonzalez as an opportunity to remind Yafai what he has to look forward to in the future.
