Jason Moloney may be only one minute older than his twin brother Andrew but make no mistake about it; the WBO bantamweight champion makes sure he holds rank in the family.

“Yeah, I’m the big brother,” Jason said, dead serious in his tone as Andrew laughs. “He knows that; I look after him…most of the time.” 

“I make him do all the stuff I don't want to do because he's the older brother,” Andrew retorts.

Now they’re both laughing and it’s clear that the relationship is as tight as you would expect it to be, which made the events of May 13 and May 20 even harder on brothers who expected to leave Las Vegas with a pair of championship belts to bring home to their native Australia.

But boxing’s Hollywood endings usually only happen in Hollywood. 

Everything started out well enough for the pair, though, as Jason won a 12-round majority decision over Vincent Astrolabio to take the WBO 118-pound crown. Then it was a trip from Stockton to Vegas for Andrew’s battle with Junto Nakatani for the vacant WBO super flyweight title. That one didn’t go as well, as the younger Moloney brother was knocked out in the 12th round.

It was a punishing fight, one where the unbeaten Nakatani looked better than ever at the MGM Grand. At the end of the 11th round, Andrew was down big on the scorecards, but he still felt he had the goods to turn everything around in the final three minutes. 

“I remember going into the last round and I had a slight sort of second to think to myself, do I play it safe here and just box and move and get through this round?” Andrew recalls. “And then I thought, nah, stuff that, I'm not living with that in the back of my mind for the rest of my life. I'm going to go out there and try and knock Nakatani out and if I get caught, I get caught. And that's what ended up happening. But at least I know that I tried to win that fight up until the very last second, rather than going into survival mode and having that thought of what could have happened. That's the only thing that makes this any easier is the fact that I gave it everything I had during training camp and everything I had on fight night, and it just wasn't my day.”

That’s as classy a response to a devastating loss as you’ll ever see. Some would say it’s more than the men in Andrew’s corner that night - Jason and Angelo Hyder – received from fans and media for their decision not to stop what had become an increasingly one-sided fight. 

“Myself, and more so probably my coach, Angelo Hyder, we've got a fair bit of criticism for not protecting Andrew and being a brave corner and all that rubbish, but we know what Andrew's like,” said Jason. “I know Andrew better than anyone in the world, and I know that he would want to finish the fight and that he'd want to go out on his shield. And I've been in that position myself, so I know what it's like. If he had jumped in and stopped the fight when I fought (Naoya) Inoue after the first knockdown, I would've been devastated. I would've been for the rest of my life worrying if I’d have beat Inoue if they had have let me fight. And obviously I ended up being knocked out and I didn't win, but at least I know deep down and for the rest of my life that I had every opportunity to win the fight, I gave it everything I had, and unfortunately it wasn't enough. But at least, you know. You don't want to go through the rest of your life wondering what could have been. And we take on the hard fights and unfortunately sometimes you have these upsets, and you have these setbacks, but at least we know that we've never avoided a hard fight. We've taken on every single person that's been put in front of us and we fought ‘til the end.” 

Jason bounced back from his knockout loss to “The Monster” in 2020 to win five straight and pick up a world title belt. Andrew, who ran off four consecutive victories after his three-fight series with Joshua Franco in 20-21 ended with him 0-2, 1 NC, expects a similar bounce back following the lone knockout loss of his career.

But first, there was the aftermath of being on the wrong side of what many are calling the frontrunner for 2023 Knockout of the Year, and physically and mentally, Andrew appears to be in good spirits and ready to get after it again as soon as possible.

“I'm feeling okay,” he said. “I healed up pretty quick. More mentally hurt than physically, but I'm okay. I'm getting through it.”

As for big bro, Jason took the whole situation pretty hard.

“I definitely feel the pain and the devastation of the loss,” he said. “We've trained together every single day for nearly 20 years now, and I know exactly how much hard work Andrew's put in and the sacrifices he's made to achieve his dreams and be the best that he can be. So obviously when he takes a loss, we both take a loss and I feel the pain and I hate to see it. It was very hard being in the corner that night because on one hand I wanted to protect my brother, but on the other hand I also wanted to give him absolutely every chance he's got to win the fight. And that night I can say honestly, I went back to my hotel and I shed a few tears because I felt like I let him down and didn't protect him. But I know now that I made the right decision to let him fight because like he says now, he wouldn't want to live his life wondering what could have been if we had to stop the fight before the last round. And he went out there and gave it absolutely everything he had. Unfortunately, he didn't get the win and he did get knocked out, which was hard to watch, but at least he knows deep down that he tried and gave it everything he can, and we gave him every opportunity to win the fight, as well.”

It's a tough call for anyone to make, especially when it’s your brother out there and there’s always that thought in the back of your head that maybe he’s got that one shot to turn it all around. Jason’s seen his brother in the ring and the gym and, like he said, no one knows him better. I ask Andrew what the conversation would have been like if his brother had stopped the fight before the 12th round.

"I sort of thought about that when Jason and Angelo mentioned that they thought about stopping it, and it's such a hard one because you obviously know that they're trying to look out for you and have your best interest at heart, but I would've been so devastated. I feel like I really would've struggled with myself just thinking what could have happened in that last round. So yeah, I'm very, very thankful that they didn't stop the fight. And there's been a lot of people online saying they should have, and I don't think they realized that how much was on the line in that fight. That's not just a fight on your way up or early in your career. That was everything we've worked for for 20 years and if they'd stopped that fight, there's just so much on the line that what could have been if I had won the fight.”

That line of thinking may not make sense to those who’ve never been in the ring, but being in this sport is a risky proposition in the best of times, and those who do this for a living know it. Even those in the Moloney brothers’ inner circle, like their long-time manager Tony Tolj, feel the ups and downs acutely. And as cliché as it sounds, the ups are euphoric, and the downs are crushing.

“In Disneyland, you’ve got the Tower of Terror,” said Tolj of that period encompassing the brothers’ fights. “You go from up here and then you just drop.”

All three laugh, but it’s the laugh of those who’ve been in the trenches through the good, the bad and the ugly. Tolj isn’t picking up his percentage and staying emotionally detached. He’s feeling everything they’re going through.

I'm the kind of person that gives one million percent in what I do, and that's all you can ask to get back,” Tolj said. “And say what you like, but most boxers are always cutting corners, doing something. These guys give absolutely everything they've got. Every bit of their wellbeing, of their training, everything they could put in, they give. And they're just great blokes, as well. Within this game you've got clients and other stuff like that. These guys are family.”

This family comes with good-natured ribbing, but the reality that each one has the other’s back, rain or shine. And while both brothers had a dose of each last month, now it’s time to look forward, and Jason’s goals are crystal clear.

“Undisputed,” he said. “I think I'm the best bantamweight in the world at the moment. The Ring magazine agrees, which is great. So now we've got to prove it. I look at every other person in the division and I think I can beat 'em all. Obviously, we've got to wait and see how the division pans out with multiple vacant belts being fought for over the coming months. But yeah, I just look forward to some exciting fights. I'll fight everyone in the division and I believe I can beat 'em all. So let's see who wins the belts and yeah, we'll start to target 'em and hopefully we can get those big fights made and yeah, one by one we’ll become undisputed.”

As for Andrew, no he’s not planning on a long vacation.

“We've had some quick discussions about it,” he said. “Nothing obviously locked in yet, and we haven't talked with Top Rank officially yet, I don't believe. But, in my mind, I would like to go down to flyweight - 112 pounds - and have a crack at the world title down there. And I think it's a faster route back. I think it's a weight that I can make and I'm confident I'll become world champion then.”  

So everything’s still on course…delayed, not denied?

“If anything, this just makes my desire and determination to become world champion even stronger,” said Andrew. “I'm devastated that it didn't pan out how we wanted it, the fairytale of becoming a champion just one week after Jason. But I know now that because of this, when I do become world champion, it's just going to be even sweeter. And I'm very sure that Jason's going to hold onto his belt for a long time. So we'll be both world champions at the same time, eventually. It's just going to take a little bit longer than I would've hoped, but I'm determined to make that happen.”

As for big bro, he’s just as confident that the fighting Moloney brothers will be world champions simultaneously, and if life will teach you one thing, you don’t question your older brother.

“I haven't seen one bad word spoken about Andrew and his performance: said Jason. “I think the whole world can only show enormous respect for the performance he put on. I think, in a loss, he gained millions of fans. I think everyone saw the effort he put in and the warrior that he is. And obviously they also have to take into account Nakatani. The guy he was in the room with is a very, very good fighter. So, no doubt, this is only a small speed hump. Andrew can definitely become world champion and I think it'll happen very soon.”