The bantamweight has fought all over the world as an amateur and professional, but he was shocked by the attention he received after travelling to Osaka to promote the fight against Takei.
“I’d never been to Japan before, and I didn’t know that I’d maybe get recognized or anything, and then I had numerous Japanese people reach out to me on Instagram and Twitter and saying, ‘Can I meet you please?’” Moloney said.
“People were travelling on the bullet train three hours to come and meet me in Osaka just to shake my hand, get a photo then jump back on the bullet train and go to three hours home. It blows my mind.
“I’d walk into coffee shops, restaurants and people would know me and come up and talk to me … getting more love over in Japan than what I do in Australia was just incredible.”
Moloney has been forced to travel further for bigger paydays and opportunities after winning his world title against Vincent Astrolabio last year in the United States and then defending it against Saul Sanchez in January in Canada.
Moloney is not a complete stranger to Japanese fans, having courageously lost to superstar Naoya Inoue in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas four years ago.
Inoue will headline the event at the Tokyo Dome and is considered one of the world’s best pound-for-pound boxers, generating increased interest in the sport in Japan that Moloney hopes to exploit commercially as his decorated career comes to a close.
“They’re doing really big things in Japan – they’ve got big promoters, they’ve got a great TV network backing them over there and they’re starting to bring money into the lighter weight divisions, which is hard to come by,” he said.
Loading
“Poor bantamweights don’t get looked after in our fight purses like these heavier weights do, so yeah, it’s great to be a part of as a fighter. I generally don’t like to talk about money too much.
“This is a big step forward and I know that winning this fight will take me to the next level in terms of my value.
“This is a must-win fight in terms of me getting the reward for all the years of hard work and sacrifices.
“The years on peanuts, I was just building my way up to this moment. These are the fights I must win to walk away from this sport having achieved and secured my future for me and my family.”
