Getty Naoya Inoue of Japan
It’ll be ‘Mayhem’ vs the ‘Monster’ when bantamweight champ Naoya Inoue (19-0, 16 KO) puts his WBA and IBF titles on the line against Jason Moloney (21-1, 18 KO) Saturday at the MGM Grand Bubble in Las Vegas.
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In the United States, the main fight card (7:30 p.m. ET start time) won’t be on regular TV anywhere, but anyone in the US can watch Inoue vs Moloney live on ESPN+ right here:
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Or, if you also want Disney+ and Hulu, you can get all three for $12.99 per month, which works out to about 31 percent savings:
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Once signed up for ESPN+, you can watch Inoue vs Moloney live on the ESPN app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
You can also watch on your computer via ESPN.com.
Inoue vs Moloney Preview
Inoue will be fighting for the first time since last November when he beat Nonito Donaire on points. The 27-year-old fractured his orbital bone in the fight, and he says he’s finally ready to go after a wildly unconventional year.
“This past year, my injuries have healed very well,” Inoue told the media this week. “With COVID-19, it’s has been tough training, but it has been the same for everyone else. We still have to go out there and perform at a high level. I see him as a high-level, all-around fighter. There are a lot of expectations and I want to meet those expectations. I take those big expectations and I use them as motivation and power to keep getting better with every fight.”
The 29-year-old Moloney has been beaten once, over two years ago, when he fell to Emmanuel Rodriguez in the quarterfinals of the World Boxing Super Series. He has been undefeated ever since, and while he’s a major underdog against Inoue, he said this week that he sees this fight as a golden opportunity to realize a lifelong dream.
“Every fighter should want to fight the best. That’s why we’re in this sport,” Moloney said during his media teleconference. “My dream and my goal is to be the best bantamweight in the world, and the only way to make that happen is to beat Inoue. I’ve been working towards this opportunity, and have wanted this opportunity, for a long time. It’s finally here.”
He finally has his opportunity to shock the world and fulfill his dream, but he’ll be facing arguably the sport’s most well-rounded fighter in Inoue, who handled the only man to beat him, Emmanuel Rodriguez, with ease. Still, the role of underdog serves Moloney just fine.
“I love being the underdog, and I love proving people wrong and going out there and, as I’ve said before, shocking the world,” Moloney said. “I know a lot of people don’t give me a chance in this fight, and that just gives me extra motivation and extra fire in the belly to go out there and show people what can be done. People place some of these fighters like Inoue and Lomachenko on this pedestal and think that they’re unbeatable, but they’re not. We’re all human. We all got two arms and two legs, and everyone has weaknesses. Everybody can be beaten.”