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The Kambosos vs Haney undercards are over in Melbourne, and we saw a big heavyweight upset and two fights end early on the main card broadcast.
Jason Moloney TKO-3 Aston Palicte
This went about as most probably expected, though maybe ending earlier than envisioned. Moloney (24-2, 19 KO) put Palicte (28-5-1, 23 KO) down with about 50 seconds left in round three, and there were just under 35 seconds for him to finish when the referee let the fight continue.
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Moloney did finish, and kept his spot in line in the bantamweight division, where he’s still a contender and hopes to go after a world title again. He’s a good fighter, though I don’t think anyone is necessarily begging to see him in with Naoya Inoue again.
Palicte, 31, was landing a left uppercut pretty consistently, but it’s about all he was getting done, too. Moloney started hammering away at the body by the second round and took over the fight in short order.
Lucas Browne TKO-1 Junior Fa
A huge upset, with 43-year-old Browne (31-3, 27 KO) scoring the best win since his 2016 upset over Ruslan Chagaev in Russia. To be blunt, Browne has looked cooked in recent years. Dillian Whyte thrashed him in 2018, he struggled badly with Kamil Sokolowski in 2019, he got knocked out in three by Dave Allen three months after that, and he was stopped by Paul Gallen in 1:55 a little over a year ago.
But he is still a 260 lb man who can punch, and Fa (19-2, 10 KO) got caught with a right hand that pretty much short circuited his body. In all reality, referee Jeffrey Eddy should not have allowed the fight to continue, but he did. Fa had 90 seconds to survive the round and maybe get his wits back, but he didn’t make it far, as much as he tried to get on his bike. As soon as Browne hit him halfway solidly again, he was down.
This is a brutal, crushing loss for the 32-year-old Fa, who lost a dull but debatable decision to Joseph Parker in Feb. 2021, the last time we saw him, and that’s against a top 10 heavyweight and former titlist. He was a huge favorite to win here, but frankly he didn’t seem to be taking the threat of Browne’s power all that seriously, and he paid for it. The only chance Browne had here was a game-changer punch, and, well, he landed it.
There is some question about the legality of both of the punches that put Fa down, but neither was an intentional shot to the back of the head. There’s a chance you see a rematch here; it’ll probably be the best money offer Browne gets.
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