Will Jason Moloney be able to salvage a split this week for his brother or will Leonardo Baez pull off another upset victory?

Moloney and Baez will square off Thursday night at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 10-round bout will air live on ESPN (8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT).

Moloney weighed 117.7 pounds at Wednesday’s weigh-in. Baez weighed in at 118.3 pounds, which was .3 pounds above the contracted limit of 118 pounds. Both sides met afterwards and approved Baez’s weight for Thursday’s fight.

Andrew Moloney, Jason’s twin brother, suffered the first loss of his pro career Tuesday night, losing by unanimous decision at the hands of Joshua Franco. The fight also took place at the MGM Grand Conference Center.

The 29-year-old Moloney (20-1, 17 knockouts), who resides in Kingscliff, Australia, stopped Nicaragua’s Dixon Flores in round 2 of his last fight on November 15. He has won his last three bouts since losing a close split-decision to Emmanuel Dominguez in October 2018. 

Moloney, who is managed by Tony Tolj, is ranked No. 6 by The Ring.

Baez (18-2, 9 KOs) defeated former world title challenger Moises Flores by unanimous decision in his last bout on February 6. The Mexicali resident has won his last five bouts since losing by unanimous decision to Alfredo Mejia Vargas. His most notable victory in that stretch was against prospect Alberto Melian on July 18.

Baez fights under the Golden Boy Promotions banner, which also promotes Franco. 

In the co-feature, unbeaten junior lightweight Abraham Nova (18-0, 14 KOs) will face Avery Sparrow (10-1 1 NC, 3 KOs) in a 10-round bout.

Nova weighed 131.9 pounds, while Sparrow weighed 131. 5 pounds. 131.5 pounds.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, Boxingscene.com, and FightNights.com. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing