Photo: Vincent Ethier – Jason Moloney, current WBO bantamweight champion.
Can one continue to dream of reaching the summit after two missed opportunities in world championship fights? That’s the question Punching Grace asked after seeing Steven Butler annihilate Steve Rolls in just 65 seconds last March 7th.
It’s the second consecutive win for ‘Bang Bang’ since his defeat last May, at the hands of Janibek Alimkhanuly, his second in a world championship after the one suffered in Japan in 2019 against Ryoto Murata.
But if we believed in him back then, why not believe in him now? After all, the Montrealer has just achieved his best career victory?
In a world where the average Quebecer easily dismisses, “he’s a local boxer, he’ll never become world champion,” we searched BoxRec to find concrete examples of perseverance, closer than we think…
The current: Jason Moloney
In front of Steven Butler and some 10,000 spectators, Jason ‘Mayhem’ Moloney (27-2, 19 KOs) had won a war of attrition against Saul Sanchez last January at the Centre Vidéotron.
The Australian road warrior was defending his WBO bantamweight belt for the first time, which he had acquired in May 2023, precisely on the undercard of Janibek-Butler.
By winning this vacant title against Vincent Astrolabio, he fulfilled at 32 years old the dream that had eluded him twice. ‘Manny’ Rodriguez had first defeated him by split decision in 2018 for the IBF title. The ‘Monster’ Naoya Inoue then defeated him in 7 rounds in 2020 for the same IBF title, as well as the WBA.
The 33-year-old athlete will be back on the road for his second title defense. He will face Yoshiki Takei (8-0, 8 KOs) at the Tokyo Dome on May 6th, on the undercard of his former rival Naoya Inoue.
The Quebecer: Éric Lucas
How can we not mention Éric Lucas (39-8-3, 15 KOs), the perfect example is in our midst. It’s been told a thousand times, Lucas wasn’t the most talented, but when he stepped into the gym, he became de facto the hardest working person in the room.
It didn’t work against Frabrice Tiozzo and Roy Jones Jr. in ’96, but against Glenn Clatley five years later, it was enough. More than enough even, knowing that he then defended his title three times before falling victim to a qualified theft in Germany against Markus Beyer.
The legend: Bernard Hopkins
Hopkins (55-8-2, 32 KOs), another who needs no introduction: ‘the Executioner’ became ‘the Alien’ after staying at the top until 49 years old, an absolute record in all weight classes.
However, the beginning was not as glorious as the end. After losing his professional debut, Hopkins won his next 22 fights before losing to Roy Jones Jr. for the IBF middleweight crown in 1993, three before tricking Lucas in the higher weight class.
The following year, ‘RJJ’ vacates the title and Hopkins draws with the obscure Segundo Mercado in his attempt to obtain it. However, he will win the rematch four months later in April ’95, stopping Mercado in the 7th round. The rest is history, as we will never see the Ecuadorian in a world championship again, but the American, he will defend this IBF title 20 times.
The persevering: Sam Soliman
To become world champion on his third attempt, one must be persevering, but when he won the IBF middleweight title against Felix Sturm in 2014, Sam Soliman (49-18-1, 19 KOs) had more than two defeats.
Obviously, Soliman’s two most significant defeats were those of 2007 and 2008, where he had surrendered twice to his compatriot Anthony Mundine for the WBA version of the 168-pound division. That said, at the time of his triumph, he had racked up 11 losses on his record, a rarity in modern boxing.
The extreme: Sakio Bika
Apparently, there is something in the water in Australia. ‘The Scorpion’ Bika (35-7-3, 22 KOs) gets his first shot at a world championship in May 2006. However, an accidental headbutt limits him to a technical draw in Germany against the polarizing Markus Beyer.
Fortunately, the athlete of Cameroonian origins receives a second chance five months later, this time in Manchester, against the legendary Joe Calzaghe. Unfortunately for him, the Briton is too strong and wins by unanimous decision.
But four years later, in November 2010, the third chance comes and… the same result: defeat by unanimous decision against Andre Ward. Boxing isn’t baseball, so even after three strikes, it’s on the fourth attempt that he hits the circuit, winning the WBC super middleweight title against Marco Antonio Periban in 2013.
Note: Bika is mostly known here for his elimination bout against Bute (2007) and his championship fight against Stevenson (2015), but he also faced our valiant Sam Soliman three times. ‘King’ Soliman handed him his first defeat in 2002, but Bika got revenge in 2007 before winning the trilogy in his latest victory to date in 2021.
The superwoman: Chris Namus
We must name a female example, as we remember Mary Spencer is in the same boat as Butler. To be inspired, the Canadian will only have to look at her BoxRec, precisely her victory against the former super welterweight monarch, Chris Namus (25-8, 8 KOs). Like Bika, the Uruguayan who completed the ultimate quest on her fourth attempt in 2017. The dream then ended less than 14 months later, where she surrendered to Marie-Eve Dicaire in Quebec.
Editorial note: this does not mean that Butler and Spencer will become world champions, but it does demonstrate that the dream is possible.
