Jason Moloney is yet again on the cusp of another title shot. For his sake, a certain unified champion will hopefully vacate his belts in the near future.

In a 12-round bantamweight eliminator between the two top-rated fighters in the WBC, Moloney outpointed a tough-as-nails Nawaphon Kaikanha of Thailand on the undercard of the Devin Haney-George Kambosos rematch at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia.

Moloney — whose brother Andrew, the 115-pound contender, was also on the card — won on wide scorecards that read 118-110, 118-110, and 119-109.

With the win, the 31-year-old Moloney (25-2, 19 KOs) has put himself in position to take another crack at the WBC 118-pound world title. The only problem? That title belongs to his former opponent, Japanese phenom Naoya Inoue.

Moloney came up way short in his encounter with Inoue in 2020, getting knocked out in the seventh round. A rematch between Inoue and Moloney would likely carry scant appeal to boxing fans. However, Inoue does not appear long for the division and may vacate his belts (WBA, WBC, IBF) to try his hand at the 122-pound class, depending on whether or not an undisputed fight between him and WBO 118-pound titleholder Paul Butler can materialize.

Moloney’s other title challenge occurred in 2018, a split decision loss to Emmanuel Rodriguez.

Against Kaikanha, Moloney executed a responsible game plan, relying on his lateral movement and picking his shots at appropriate times. Kaikanha, who was never hurt in the fight, made up for his clumsy offense with an iron chin and persistent pressure.

Moloney found some clear success in the fifth round. He landed five consecutive hard lefts to the body. The first one seemed to catch Kaikanha’s attention as he took a few steps backward.

The two traded in the pocket, much to the delight of the crowd, late in the seventh round. Kaikanha landed a hard right in one exchange.

In the eight round, Moloney found success with the uppercut. Kaikanha continued to stalk the Aussie around the ring but was largely ineffectual on offense.

Moloney began stepping to Kaikanha in the ninth round, peppering him with jabs and body shots. Kaikanha looked noticeably slow in this round.

In the 10th round, Moloney appeared to be in full control, his movement too quick for Kaikanha to find openings to land his punches. But with a few seconds remaining in the round,  Kaikanha staggered Moloney with a hard right. He followed it up with another punch, followed by a left.

Moloney looked somewhat shaky in the 11th round. But he found his rhythm in the latter half. At one point, he landed a four-punch combination punctuated with a searing left hook, but Kaikanha took the punch well.

The 12th round belonged to Moloney, who started off by using his jab and then fired off combinations on Kaikanha.