Junior bantamweight contender Andrew Moloney got the monkey off his back with a 10-round unanimous decision win over Judy Flores at the Pullman Hotel in Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia on Saturday night.

It was the 32-year-old Australian’s first fight back since a devastating 12th-round knockout loss to reigning WBO 115-pound titleholder Junto Nakatani in May.

Moloney (26-3, 16 KOs), The Ring’s No. 8-rated junior bantamweight, wasted little time getting to work, pressing forward behind a high guard and a stiff jab while Flores looked to time him with left hooks and rips to the body. Late in the opening round Moloney caught the 25-year-old Filipino flush with a left hook to the jaw.

Flores (13-2, 7 KOs) became the aggressor in the second and continued to attack the body, receiving a warning from referee Ignatius Missailidis for straying low. In a high-volume round, Moloney bulled Flores to the ropes in the third, connecting with a powerful combination, but the visitor went with him, opening a cut over his left eye with a right cross.

The fast-paced action continued through the middle rounds. Moloney continued to pressure Flores in the fourth, rocking his head back with a right hand disguised behind a double jab.  Flores opened the fifth with a good right hand to the head, targeting Moloney’s cut eye. The round got a little messy with Moloney slipping to the canvas on water in the corner and Flores warned for coming in with his head and also for a low blow.

The body shots from Flores appeared to have little effect on Moloney, who kept marching forward and letting his hands go while Flores tried to measure him for counters coming in. The sixth round was a strong one from Moloney, who landed power punches with both hands.

Moloney copped his own warning for a low blow early in the seventh as the tempo of the bout slowed down before a two-punch combination from the local buckled Flores on the ropes.

The eighth was another Moloney round while Flores had arguably his best round of the fight in the ninth, controlling the distance and landing with crisp, accurate punches. In a scrappy final round Moloney was warned for a low blow, Flores slipped to the floor on the main sponsor’s logo and there was an unintentional clash of heads. Two big right hands from Moloney closed out the show.

At the end of the fight all three judges saw the fight in favor of Moloney with scores of 100-90 twice and 97-93. The wider cards did not accurately reflect the competitiveness of the contest.

“It’s been a tough year, so I was really determined to get out again before the end of the year and get a win on the board and put that last fight behind me,” Moloney said after the fight.

He paid credit to Flores, who showed he has a bright future in the sport despite the loss.

“I was in against a world class opponent tonight,” Moloney said. “He was number 15 in the world [in both the WBA and WBO] and that’s what I wanted in my comeback fight. I didn’t want to come back and have an easy win for no reason. I want to progress in my career and fight for world titles in 2024 and hopefully that fight will push me in that direction.”

Moloney said he was looking forward to taking some time off over the holidays before ramping up his world championship campaign in the new year.

“I’ve had to be selfish over the last couple of months. I haven’t been the husband or the dad I would like to be, but now that I’ve got the win tonight, we can enjoy Christmas and spend some quality time together,” said Moloney, the twin brother of reigning WBO bantamweight titleholder Jason Moloney.

“In 2024 I’m going to get that world title and join my brother as world champion.”

READ THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE RING FOR FREE VIA THE NEW APP NOW. SUBSCRIBE NOW TO ACCESS MORE THAN 10 YEARS OF BACK ISSUES.