Fed-up Moloney pulls pin after Mexican stand-off
The super flyweight was due to fight Argi Cortes in Durango this weekend, with the winner awarded mandatory status to challenge Willibaldo Garcia for the crown.
The fight had already been moved once and pushed back twice, the second delay occurring after Moloney (27-4) had landed and forcing his team to extend their time in the central Mexican town to almost five weeks.
A filthy Moloney had vowed to take out his frustration on Cortes, given the final date change meant more time away from his family and missing his mother's 60th birthday celebrations.
Another proposed venue change five days out from the fight - to Cortes's Mexico City home town nearly 1000km away, and at a higher altitude - was the final straw.
So Moloney's camp, which included twin brother and former world bantamweight champion Jason, withdrew and flew home.
Cortes (27-4-2, 11 KO) will instead fight Bairon Rodriguez in Mexico City this weekend, but the bout will not be recognised by the IBF.
AAP understands Moloney's team will argue Cortes breached the terms of his contract and demand to be awarded mandatory status.
It is the latest chapter in a frustrating career for the 34-year-old, who held the WBA's secondary super flyweight belt in 2019.
A controversial trilogy loss to Joshua Franco stripped him of that status, before Moloney was spectacularly knocked out by superstar Junto Nakatani in a 2023 world title fight.
He then copped a dubious points loss in an interim world title fight in Perth last year.
That defeat to another Mexican, Pedro Guevara, prompted a furious Moloney to announce his immediate retirement, a declaration he walked back once the dust had settled.
"Sometimes you feel like you're in the tunnel and there's no light at the end, but at the moment it's never been more clear," Moloney told AAP last week.
"Beat these two guys in front of me.
"I've just got this burning desire to become world champion again.
"It's all I've thought about since losing it and I'm so close now, not going to let anything get in the way."
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