CARLOS CUADRAS-ANDREW MOLONEY, NINA HUGHES-CHERNEKA JOHNSON LAND ON LOMACHENKO-KAMBOSOS PERTH SHOW
Carlos Cuadras and Andrew Moloney are both in line to challenge for separate 115-pound titles.
They instead turn to each other for their next payday.
The Ring has confirmed that a Cuadras-Moloney interim WBC 115-pound title fight is set for May 12 in Perth, Australia. The bout will serve as the co-feature to the already confirmed Vasiliy Lomachenko-George Kambosos vacant IBF lightweight title fight.
WBA bantamweight titlist Nina Hughes (6-0, 2 knockouts), No. 2 at 118, will defend versus Melbourne’s Cherneka Johnson (15-2, 6 KOs) on the same show. All three bouts will air live on ESPN in the U.S. and Main Event Pay-Per-View in Australia. The Ring has confirmed the full show is expected to be announced on Wednesday by Top Rank, DiBella Entertainment and Ferocious Promotions.
Mexico City’s Cuadras (42-5-1. 28 KOs), No. 5 at 115, remains deep in the mix in one of the sport’s toughest divisions. The former full WBC titlist claimed an interim version with a twelve-round win over countryman Pedro Guevara last Nov. 17 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The bout was held in honor of the annual WBC convention; Cuadras used the opportunity to resurrect his career.
The win was the third in a row for Cuadras, all after a Feb. 2022 loss to San Antonio’s Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (19-0, 12 KOs). Cuadras was due to rematch former Ring/WBC champ Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (56-6-1, 46 KOs), No 7. at 115, who fell ill just a week out. Rodriguez, No. 1 at 112 and No. 10 pound-for-pound, won the vacant WBC 115-pound title in a fight he accepted on just six days’ notice.
Cuadras sat out for more than a year before he returned with a three-win 2023 campaign. The run included the secondary WBC belt, which puts him in line for the main strap.
Similarly, Australia’s Moloney (26-3, 16 KOs), No. 4 at 115, is the top-rated WBO contender. Kosei Tanaka (20-1, 11 KOs), No. 3 at 115, recently won the WBO belt in February and is mulling his next move. The Ring has learned that Tanaka entered negotiations with Argentina’s Fernando ‘Puma’ Martinez (16-0, 9 KOs), The Ring No.2 contender and the IBF titleholder.
Moloney will fight in his home country for the second straight time. The 33-year-old from Kingscliff returned down under for a ten-round win over Judy Flores last Dec. 9 in Albert Park. It was his first fight after a devastating 12th round knockout to Junto Nakatani in their May 20 WBO 115-pound title fight.
Nakatani (27-0, 20 KOs), No. 1 at 118, moved up to bantamweight earlier this year. He dethroned WBC titlist Alexandro Santiago (28-4-5, 14 KOs), No. 6 at 118, in the sixth-round on a Feb. 24 title fight tripleheader from Tokyo.
The move worked to the benefit of Moloney, whose ranking gives him a second shot at the WBO 115-pound title. However, he and Cuadras both risk their lofty positions to meet in a fight where both face a must-win situation.
The timing of the fight works out well. As previously reported by The Ring, Rodriguez is in advanced talks to next face Juan Francisco Estrada (44-3, 28 KOs), The Ring 115-pound champ. Estrada also holds the WBC title, which puts into a play a potential mandatory title shot for the Cuadras-Moloney winner.
