Double Header of World Title Fights at Stockton Arena
Saturday May 13 is going to be a great night of boxing at the Stockton Arena. There’s not one but two world title fights in the bantamweight and middleweight divisions.
The WBO bantamweight title is vacant at present but that’ll all change on May 13. Australian boxer Jason Moloney takes on Vincent Astrolabio from the Philippines over 12 rounds. Maloney is ranked the number one contender with his opponent in second position. The title has been vacant since January when Naoya Inoue moved up in weight.
Californian boxing fans should be in for a treat with this world bantamweight title showdown. According to americanbettingapps, Moloney is the favorite to win the title.
The Japanese boxer handed Moloney his last defeat back in 2020. On that occasion, the fight was held in Las Vegas but the Australian was already behind on points when being knocked out in the seventh round.
That was only the second defeat of his professional career. The Australian is no stranger to fighting in America and in 2018 he challenged Emmanuel Rodriguez for the IBF version of the world bantamweight title. He lost on a split decision and will be hoping it’s third time lucky for him when he takes on Astrolabio in Stockton.
Since his loss to Inoue, Maloney has won two fights, both back in Australia. One won him the WBO International and WBC Silver bantamweight belts. His most recent fight was a 12-round unanimous points victory over Nawaphon Kaikanha who had won 56 of his 57 pro bouts.
Now he travels to Stockton to face Astrolabio who has won 18 of his 21 professional fights. He may well have lost three fights but comes to California without a defeat since 2018 when campaigning in the super flyweight division.
He’s unbeaten as a bantamweight with six straight wins and five coming inside the distance, Now living in Las Vegas, Astrolabio holds the WBO Inter-Continental bantamweight title winning that with a convincing victory over Nikolai Potapov last December.
He put his opponent down three times and although the underdog against Moloney, he certainly has a punch that could win him the title and the Australian is gambling with his career here.
The world title double-header also sees Steven Butler challenge the unbeaten Zhanibek Alimkhanuly for the WBO middleweight title.
Butler is ranked sixth by the WBO with the top challengers being Gennady Golovkin and Liam Smith. No one is quite sure what Golovkin’s future plans are, while Smith has a rematch with Chris Eubank Jr in June.
The 27-year-old is nicknamed ‘Bang Bang’ and a look at his pro record explains why. He’s won 32 of his 35 fights and 26 of his wins have come inside the distance. This is his second attempt to win a version of the world middleweight title.
The first came in 2019 when challenging Ryota Murata for the WBA title. He didn’t fare well and was stopped in the fifth round. His career took another hit in his next fight two years later as he lost to Jose de Jesus Maias, again being stopped in the fifth round.
Losing two fights on the bounce left Butler with a great deal to do to get back into the title picture. He’s buckled down well though and a streak of four wins and winning the NABF middleweight title.
His last fight was in December of last year when outpointing Joshua Conley over ten rounds. One judge gave the fight to him by eight points, one by just two! His win never looked in doubt though and now the Canadian crosses the border hoping that the return journey will be as the new WBO middleweight champion.
It’s going to be a tough fight and one to savor in Stockton. The defending champion hails from Kazakhstan and turned professional eight years ago. His first two fights took place in his homeland but since then he’s been mainly fighting in the USA.
In just his sixth professional fight he made his way to California and an important bout at the Staples Center in LA. He beat Cristian Olivas on points to land the WBC Continental Americas and WBO Global middleweight belts.
His next five fights were all won inside the distance and that led to a shot at the WBO Interim middleweight title in May 2022. Danny Dignum lasted just five minutes. That led to a shot at the fully-fledged title and Alimkanuly won a unanimous points decision over Denzel Bentley to become champion.
This should be a great fight against Butler. The challenger will give his all to finally become world champion but the title holder is going to be tough to beat that is for sure.
