Surprise awaits Moloney

Coach Nonoy Neri has a surprise ready for Jason Moloney when the Australian faces General Santos City’s Vincent Astrolabio for the vacant WBO bantamweight title in Stockton, California, on Saturday night (Sunday morning, Manila time). He’s not revealing what’s in store for Moloney and the secret will only be unraveled when the bell rings to start the scheduled 12-round bout.

“Mabibigla si Moloney at mabibigla lahat ng mga manonood,” said Neri who arrived in Stockton with Astrolabio from base camp in Las Vegas the other day. “Maraming ginawa si Vincent sa training na effective. Nadagdagan ang lakas at explosiveness, gawa ng training ni (strength and conditioning coach) Memo (Heredia). Bilis, lakas, timing at stamina nag-improve. Mga suntok ni Vincent, unexpected. Tingin ko, magiging easy fight para kay Vincent.”

Astrolabio shares Neri’s optimism and predicted a knockout in the sixth or seventh round. “Pressure tayo sa laban,” he said. “Stylist si Moloney, sumusuntok sa labas parang style ni (Nikolai) Potapov.” Astrolabio floored Potapov thrice before referee Robert Hoyle waved it off at 1:26 of the sixth round in Las Vegas last December. Does he plan to deck Moloney more than thrice? “Isa lang kailangan,” Astrolabio replied, oozing with confidence.

Neri said Moloney’s style is simple and easy to break down. “Napagaralan na namin galaw niya,” he continued. “Alam namin kung anong dapat gawin. Ang kahinaan ni Moloney ay weak chin. Kung dehado tayo sa judges, ‘di tayo dehado sa lakas. May mga rumors na kulang sa speed si Astrolabio. Ang masasabi ko, kung kulang man, bawi tayo sa lakas, timing at explosiveness.”

Astrolabio said Heredia worked on bringing up his speed. “Dami pinagawa ni Memo, sprinting sa oval ng UNLV (University of Nevada at Las Vegas) at akyat sa bundok,” he noted. “Kailangan kasi. Masakit sa katawan pero magagamit ko ang lahat pagdating ng laban. Pray lang ako sa Panginoon na manalo. Ito ang pangarap ko, maging world champion. Dumating na ang pagkakataon.”