Joshua Franco showed Andrew Moloney the carpet in the 11th round and it was the difference to cause surprise by winning a tight decision to win his WBA super flyweight title on Tuesday in Las Vegas.

Shaken by a good combination of Franco (17-1-2, 8 K.-O.), Moloney (21-1, 14 K.-O.) put the gloves on the ground in the 11th. This round of 10-8 made all the difference since the judges gave cards of 115-112, 114-113 and 114-113 and, without this additional point, the outcome of the fight would have been a majority draw and Moloney would have kept the belt.

Moloney, a 29-year-old Australian, was playing his first fight in the United States and was seen as a favorite. He made his first defense of the title since he was promoted to regular champion in February, three months after his victory over Elton Dharry for the interim title in November 2019.

Moloney cashed the first loss of his career in his 22nd fight.

Diaz convincing against Sanchez

In the semi-final of the gala, Christopher Diaz (26-2, 16 K.-O.) won convincingly against Jason Sanchez (15-1, 8 K.-O.) by unanimous decision after a 10 round fight.

In a light welterweight duel, Miguel Contreras (11-0, 6 KOs) defeated Rolando Vargas (5-1, 5 KOs) by unanimous decision.

In the first fight of the evening, heavyweight Adam Stewart (8-1-1, 5 KOs) suffered the first defeat of his career by losing to Helaman Olguin (8-3, 3 K. -O.) By majority decision.

Lightweight Joseph Adorno, who faced Alexis del Bosque (17-5, 9 KOs), had to retire due to illness.

Adorno (14-0-1, 12 KOs) swung the scale to 136 pounds, one too much, during the weigh-in on Monday and the two clans had agreed that Adorno should respect a limit of 142 during another weighing, Tuesday afternoon. Adorno felt bad and never went to this second weigh-in. He was taken to hospital as a preventive measure and the fight was canceled.