Jason Moloney has no problem playing the role of older brother as he and Andrew pursue separate titles.

The twin brothers were separated by just one minute at birth, with Jason born first and now lands his WBO bantamweight title one week prior to Andrew. Both are matched tough—as should be the case when you are fighting for a major title—but the “elder” Moloney is fine with his clash versus the Philippines’ Vincent Astrolabio (18-3, 13KOs) potentially setting the table for Andrew’s upcoming WBO junior bantamweight title fight versus Japan’s Junto Nakatani.  

“I prefer it this way. I like the fact that I’m fighting first,” Jason Moloney told BoxingScene.com. “I have the chance to win the WBO bantamweight title. Andrew being there, seeing me win my first world title and how special it will be, will only inspire him even more to go do it.”

Moloney-Astrolabio serves as the opening leg of a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN-televised title fight doubleheader this Saturday from Stockton Arena in Stockton, California. WBO middleweight titlist Janibek Alimkhanuly (13-0, 8KOs) defends his title versus Montreal’s Steven Butler (32-3-1, 26KOs) in the evening’s main event.

The show comes seven days prior to a loaded May 20 bill in Las Vegas also presented by Top Rank and which features Andrew Moloney (25-2, 16KOs). Undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney (29-0, 15KOs) defends versus former three-division titlist Vasiliy Lomachenko (17-2, 11KOs) in their ESPN Pay-Per-View headliner. Preceding the PPV portion, Andrew faces former WBO flyweight titlist Junto Nakatani (24-0, 18KOs) in a vacant WBO junior bantamweight title fight atop the ESPN-televised preliminary telecast.

Andrew briefly held a secondary version of the WBA junior bantamweight title, which he lost to Joshua Franco in June 2020. The event—which sparked a bizarre trilogy—was the U.S. debut for Moloney, and also ended in his first defeat. Jason fought two nights later and emerged victorious.

The bout with Nakatani will mark Andrew’s first with a major, non-secondary title at stake. Nakatani is currently a -350 favorite according to bet 365 sportsbook, which lists Andrew as a +225 underdog after previously sitting at +162 earlier in the week. Jason Moloney (25-2, 19KOs) is a relatively narrow -163 favorite to best Astrolabio (+120) bit supremely confident of victory this weekend—and that it will be the first of two title wins for the family this month.

“I’m happy to provide him with that extra motivation to go into this huge fight on such a high,” Moloney said of going out ahead of Andrew. “Going in with that winning attitude will lift him to another level. He’s in a hard fight, we both are. But the way it’s worked out should be a big boost for Andrew to go in there and shock the world versus Nakatani. It’s going to be an incredible stretch for both of us.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox