A 29-year-old Australian is on the cusp of a 2nd world title shot after bludgeoning and bloodying his opponent in a close-range brawl

• Jason Moloney pummeled his way to a seventh round victory over Leonardo Baez at "The Bubble," a quarantine area at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.
• Moloney's win came two days after his twin brother Andrew Moloney was taken to hospital after a super flyweight world title loss in the same venue.
• Jason Moloney rallied, inspired by the possibility that a win, in style, could push him closer to a second world title shot in the bantamweight division.
• Watch highlights of Moloney's win below.

A 29-year-old Australian is on the cusp of another world title shot after bludgeoning and bloodying his opponent in an inside brawl Thursday.

Jason Moloney, a bantamweight destroyer in his home country, flew to Las Vegas with his twin brother Andrew Moloney after receiving special exemptions to travel despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Andrew Moloney faltered Tuesday, losing a super flyweight fight to Joshua Franco in which he was taken to hospital after a behind-closed-doors Top Rank show at the MGM Grand Conference Center.

Jason, though, triumphed in style two days later.

Jason Moloney began his fight against Leonardo Baez by countering his opponent's punches before an all-out slobberknocker broke out in the second round, one Moloney always appeared well-suited to win.

Moloney cut Baez around the right eye in the third, and out-punched and out-landed him in all but one of the seven rounds according to Compubox data seen by Insider.

By the fight's end in the seventh, Moloney landed 145 of his 449 punches — a 32.3% success rate.

Many of his shots would have landed from close distance, picking Baez apart with powerful body shots, eventually wilting and stopping the Mexican in a blood-and-guts bout.

Watch the highlights of Moloney's win here:

"This is the biggest opportunity of my career," Moloney said on the ESPN broadcast after his win, one which edges him closer to a second title shot having lost his first against Emmanuel Rodriguez in 2018, his only other fight on US territory.

"I'm so happy now, this is the best moment of my career," he said. "This makes all the sacrifices and all the hard work worthwhile. This is a step towards fighting for another world title, and I want that dream, that belt, so bad."

Naoya Inoue, Nordine Oubaali, and Jonriel Casimero hold at least one portion each of the fractured championship in the 118-pound weight class.

On the type of message he sent with a statement win mid-week, Moloney said: "I think I sent a big message. He pushed me hard, but I showed how bad I want this. I'm ready for any of the champions at 118."

With his win, Moloney advances his record to 21 wins (18 knockouts) against 1 loss.

Other results on the night included:

• Abraham Nova beating Avery Sparrow
• Orlando Gonzalez-Ruiz beating Luis Porozo
• Vlad Panin beating Benjamin Whitaker
• Kingsley Ibeh beating Waldo Cortes Acosta
• Raymond Yanong beating Clay Burns

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