Vincent Astrolabio (18-3, 13 KOs), of General San. City, Phil., will face Jason Moloney (25-2, 19 KOs), of Melbourne, Aus., for the vacant WBO bantamweight world championship in a twelve-round co-main event, for Top Rank Inc’s May 13th card, taking place at the Stockton Arena, in Stockton, California.
What makes the bout so unique is both fighters traveled from across the globe to land in Stockton of all places to fight for the belt, Naoya Inoue, vacated after becoming the undisputed bantamweight world champion in December. Sean Gibbons, who functions in an advisory role for Astrolabio gave ProBox TV News an exclusive on what we can see on Saturday night.
This will be Moloney’s third fight chance at a world title, but Astrolabio's first. The stakes are high, and the division with the absence of the generational force of Naoya Inoue is now looking for the next face of the division as both of these fighters believe they could fill that void. Previously, Astrolabio has defeated Nikolai Potapov, and Guillermo Rigondeaux to earn this shot, whereas Moloney has won four straight fights with wins over Aston Palicte, and Joshua Greer Jr.
“I think Vincent can win the WBO title, and then we will see,” confessed Gibbons about the prospects of Astrolabio after this fight. “[The division has a lot of movement right now as] Jerwin Ancajas is fighting for the WBA title, I’d like to see Vincent win and see what happens with Nonito Donaire and Alejandro Barrios."
As for those unfamiliar with Astrolabio, Gibbons gave a detailed rundown of his style. Though he made it clear power is the centerpiece to what Astrolabio does - he also has an underrated ability to allow for him to set up those big shots.”
“I think [Astrolabio] has a lot of upside for sure, man,” furthered Gibbons. “His style is a cross between a caveman [with] punching power. The guy has real, real power, and he can box some. He is a little underrated, people think he [is a] slow guy right in front of you, [but] he has great timing, heavy hands. I mean ask Nikolai Potapov, when he hit that dude, he took his senses from him. So, I consider him a little bit like a puncher-boxer, but more of like a puncher, very heavy-handed.”
