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Andrew Moloney vs. Junto Nakatani & Nico Ali Walsh’s
Return Highlight Haney vs. Loma Undisputed ESPN-Televised
PPV Prelims At MGM On May 20
A world title fight and the grandson of “The Greatest” take
center stage on Saturday, May 20 as part of the
ESPN-televised prelims to the PPV main event headlined by
undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney’s title defense
against former pound-for-pound king Vasiliy Lomachenko at
the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The two-fight telecast is headlined by the vacant WBO junior
bantamweight world title showdown between Australia’s former
world champion Andrew Moloney and Japan’s undefeated former
WBO flyweight titlist Junto Nakatani.
Opening the broadcast will be undefeated middleweight
prospect Nico Ali Walsh, grandson of Muhammad Ali, in a
scheduled eight-rounder against a to-be-determined foe.
Moloney-Nakatani and Ali Walsh’s return will be broadcast
live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m.
PT.
The Haney vs. Lomachenko main card will stream live on Top
Rank on ESPN+ PPV, the event’s exclusive digital distributor
in the United States, beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
Additionally, it will be available via cable and satellite
pay-per-view providers and is priced at $59.99 across all
distributors.
The PPV undercard features a 10-round junior lightweight
co-feature between two-division world champion Oscar Valdez
and Adam “BluNose” Lopez in a rematch of their 2019 battle.
In the PPV opener, rising lightweight Raymond “Danger”
Muratalla will take on big-punching Namibian contender
Jeremia Nakathila in a 10-round clash.
Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Devin Haney
Promotions and DiBella Entertainment, tickets starting at
$104, plus applicable service charges, are on sale now at
axs.com.
Moloney (25-2, 16 KOs) hopes to become a two-time world
champion in the city where Joshua Franco upset him by
unanimous decision back in June 2020. The two fought twice
more, with a controversial no contest and second Franco
decision victory closing the chapter on their trilogy.
Following the third Franco fight in August 2021, Moloney
regrouped in December 2021 with a clear points victory over
Froilan Saludar. In 2022, he fought three times, including a
pair of homecoming appearances on the Devin Haney-George
Kambosos Jr. cards in Melbourne, Australia. Moloney, ranked
No. 2 by the WBO at 115 pounds, earned the title shot with a
10-round decision over Norbelto Jimenez last October for the
WBO International strap.
WBO No. 1 junior bantamweight contender Nakatani (24-0, 18
KOs), a 25-year-old southpaw from Inabe-gun, Mie, Japan,
ranks among the hardest lighter-weight punchers in boxing.
An eight-year pro, Nakatani captured the vacant WBO
flyweight world title in November 2020 with an eighth-round
knockout over Giemel Magramo. Nakatani defended his
flyweight crown twice, bloodying and stopping Angel Acosta
in four rounds and knocking out Ryota Yamauchi in eight. He
vacated his title to move up to junior bantamweight and
scored a one-sided decision over former unified world
champion Francisco Rodriguez Jr. last November.
Ali Walsh (8-0, 5 KOs) moves up to his first scheduled
eight-rounder nearly two years removed from his pro debut.
He made his Las Vegas debut last April at the MGM Grand
Garden Arena, obliterating Alejandro Ibarra with a
left-right combination in the first round. Ali Walsh righted
the only blemish on his record last August, stopping Reyes
Sanchez in the second round of their rematch with a body
shot. Sanchez lost a majority decision to Ali Walsh in
December 2021. He made his 2023 debut in February,
outlasting the rugged Eduardo Ayala en route to a convincing
six-round unanimous decision.
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