Jason Moloney, in Japan to spar Tsutsumi, looks for big fights against Japan’s elite

A month-long training camp in Japan has reignited the spark in ex-WBO bantamweight titleholder Jason Moloney, who hopes to return to the ring before the end of the year.

The 33-year-old Australian offered up his services as a sparring partner to recently crowned WBA 118-pound titleholder Seiya Tsutsumi after the Japanese boxer had previously helped him prepare for his unsuccessful title defense against Yoshiki Takei at the Tokyo Dome back in May. It seemed only fair to return the favor.

Clever switch-hitter Tsutsumi, 28, boxed a superb fight to dethrone Takuma Inoue by unanimous decision at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan on Sunday night by scores of 117-110, 115-112 and 114-113. It was an actioned-packed fight that Moloney eagerly took in from ringside.

Tsutsumi’s conditioning down the stretch came as no surprise to Moloney, who said that some of the training sessions he completed with The Ring’s No.3 bantamweight contender were among the toughest of his 10-year pro career.

“The training and the sparring was unbelievable,” said Moloney (27-3, 19 KOs), The Ring’s No.7 bantamweight contender. “They were so appreciative of me coming over and helping him. I gave him some great work, which obviously paid off for him. He fought unbelievably; his performance was amazing. He stuck to the game plan and showed how much he wanted it. He just pushed hard the whole fight and never gave up. He was relentless and he got what he deserved.

“Watching him prepare for that fight was pretty inspiring. He lives and breathes the sport and he trains so hard. It was pretty awesome to sit back and watch your mate achieve his dream of becoming a world champion. To play a small part in it was pretty special.”

But the trip to Japan was about much more than being part of a hard training camp for Moloney. It was just as much about him building his brand in the lucrative Japanese market as he awaits for his next fight to be scheduled. He attended both the Sunday and Monday night shows at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, spending hours signing autographs, taking selfies, and chatting with fans.

Speaking to The Ring just hours before he was due to fly out back home to Australia on Tuesday, Moloney said it was a special experience.

“The whole two days have just been unbelievable,” said Moloney, who was traveling alone internationally for the first time, even missing his daughter’s third birthday at home. “They just do boxing so well over here. They have proper, hardcore fans who love the events, love the fighters and really support everyone. It’s been amazing to be over here and just witness it firsthand.

“Obviously I fought over here in May at the Tokyo Dome, but it’s been a really good experience this time to take a little step back and just watch it and appreciate it a bit more. I think when you’re fighting yourself, you block a lot of it out. You’re so zoned in, you’ve got the blinkers on and you don’t really appreciate it to a certain extent. I loved the opportunity to box over there, but you’re just so focused on fighting and performing that it’s very hard to sit back and smell the roses while you’re in the moment.”

As much fun as he had, it wasn’t all sunshine and lollypops for Moloney, who went one step too far in immersing himself in the local culture.

“The food over here is unbelievable,” he said. “I love it and perhaps that’s what brought me undone. I was with a mate over here who is obviously a local and he was telling me all these different foods to try to give me an experience. We started talking about chicken sashimi and he was saying that they eat it over here because it’s so fresh that it doesn’t have the bacteria, so you can eat it raw.

“I was feeling game, I was feeling brave, so I ate it. The next day I was fine and I thought I’ve handled this, I’ve got away with it. But the following morning I woke up and I had a bit of a fever and… let’s just say, the effects lasted well over a week.

“When you’re sparring Seiya Tsutsumi, who is relentless, and you’ve got food poisoning and you’ve got to do eight rounds, it’s not easy. But I pushed through.

“I couldn’t pull out of the sparring because I know what it’s like. He’s invested in bringing me over here, so I couldn’t really call him and say ‘I can’t spar because I’ve got food poisoning.’ I knew I was in for eight rounds and it was going to be hard, but I thought, you know what, this could happen on fight day. You could wake up feeling absolutely rubbish, but you wouldn’t pull out of the fight. I treated it like that and I actually sparred well that night, but I was in pain. I definitely didn’t want him to hit me to the body, I can tell you that!”

Jason Moloney (right) and Saul Sanchez battled tooth and nail for 12 thrilling rounds in January 2024, with Moloney successfully defending his WBO bantamweight title by majority decision. (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank)

Despite his obvious friendship with Tsutsumi, Moloney says he wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to face him for his world title, adding that the fight would not be his first choice.

“It’s not something I’ve spoken to him about,” he said. “We’re mates and we’ve both helped each other a lot. But we’re fighters and unfortunately, we’re in this sport where you’ve got to be selfish. We’re obviously at the same weight, we’ve got the same dreams, so I think we’d both be up for a fight if that was to come about.

“It’s probably not my first option as we’ve become mates through boxing, but we’re both fighters and we’ve both got our dreams and aspirations, so I think we’d be able to put the friendship aside for 12 rounds if we had to.”

The night after Tsutsumi’s title win, WBC bantamweight beltholder Junto Nakatani put on another classy display to dispatch Thai veteran Tasana Salapat, AKA Petch CP Freshmart, in six rounds. The clever Japanese southpaw holds a final-round knockout win over Moloney’s twin brother Andrew in their WBO 115-pound title fight in May of last year.

“It’s an interesting one, the Thai started so slow and really didn’t look like he was having a proper crack,” said Moloney. “Then midway through either round four or five, he’s decided to press forward and let his hands go. He looked dangerous at times. It looked like things were heating up and it was going to be a good fight, but I guess the class of Nakatani rose above.

“Nakatani showed how devastating he can be. It was a good performance from him. It will be interesting to see what he decides to do next. I know everyone keeps talking about the showdown with Naoya Inoue, and no doubt that would be an absolutely massive fight over here. Whether he moves up or looks to maybe unify, I’m not too sure what he will do. It will be interesting to see what he does next.

“Of course, I would love a chance to fight him if that opportunity presented itself. I’d love to have a go, even though I rate him as a very, very good fighter. I’m always willing to test myself against the best and he’s definitely a fighter I would be up for facing.”

Australia’s Jason Moloney (left) got his licks in but lost his WBO bantamweight title to Yoshiki Takei by unanimous decision. (Photo by Philip Fong/AFP via Getty Images)

A surprise future opponent for Moloney could be ex-K1 star Tenshin Nasukawa, who moved to 5-0 with a 10-round unanimous decision victory against Gerwin Asilo by scores of 97-92  and 98-91 twice in the main support bout on Monday night. A relative novice in boxing but a seasoned professional in combat sports, the 26-year-old southpaw is a huge name in his home country and is ranked number three in the bantamweight division by both the WBC and the WBA.

“Tenshin is incredibly popular over here. He’s more popular than Nakatani and gets more attention,” said Moloney.

“His fight seemed like a bit of a sparring session. I thought the other bloke won quite a few rounds. We had it pretty close here. We thought it was a close fight, but the scorecards didn’t reflect that.

“There are whispers that they will try to present him as a possible opponent for me. Obviously I’d prefer a title fight, but he’s a big name over here, so that’s another name we would consider. We’ll wait and see.”

Whatever the future holds, Moloney hopes to be in Japan again soon, this time as a participant, not a spectator.

“Japan is where I need to be,” he said. “It’s where the four champions are, so they’re really holding the power in this division and I love it over here. I want to be part of it, I want to be in big fights and become champion again. I knew that coming over here and just being around, showing my face, engaging with the fans would hopefully generate some interest in a fight for me back over here, before the end of the year, if possible.”

Just don’t expect him to be dining out on raw chicken again any time soon.

“I think I learned my lesson,” Moloney laughed.