Moloney vs Astrolabio ESPN

Moloney and Astrolabio will meet for the vacant WBO bantamweight title this weekend at Stockton Arena in Stockton, California (Saturday, ESPN, 10:00 p.m. ET). Their bout comes well before the alternative routes they previously considered. Moloney sensed that an ordered WBC bantamweight title fight versus Nonito Donaire (42-7, 28KOs) wouldn’t see the light of day but seemed confident that the Philippines’ Astrolabio (18-3, 13KOs) would ultimately face Puerto Rico’s Emmanuel Rodriugez (21-2, 13KOs; 1NC) for the IBF belt.