Australia's Jason Moloney will have to wait longer for a chance to reclaim his WBO bantamweight world title, after losing his bout with Japan's Tenshin Nasukawa in Tokyo by unanimous decision.
In a possibly contentious end to a gripping 10-round fight on Monday night, the 34-year-old Moloney raised his arms in apparent triumph after the bell, only to lose on the judges' cards to former kickboxer Nasukawa.
Two judges scored the bout 97-93 and the third 98-92 in Nasukawa's favour.
Moloney was boxing for the first time since losing his WBO bantamweight world title to Japan's Yoshiki Takei, also in Tokyo, last May, with the winner hoping to take a step towards challenging Takei for the belt later this year.
The Melbourne fighter was crestfallen after the decision, and may have had cause to feel hard done by.
Moloney, now 27-4, started the more aggressively and was on top through the first two rounds, going on the attack late in the first when he landed a strong right to the face.
Nasukawa hit back and got himself on top in the next three rounds, unsettling Moloney with a succession of lefts to the face and to the side of the head.
Moloney, however, charged back in the sixth, landing the most telling blow of the fight early in the round when a one-two combination sent his rival staggering backwards in a battle to stay upright.
He followed with more shots to Nasukawa's head, which contributed to blood streaming from the 26-year-old's nose early in the seventh round, when Moloney again appeared the superior fighter despite wearing an upper cut to the face.
The hometown hero was not done with, however, hauling himself back into the contest against his clearly tiring rival in the eighth as the calls from Moloney's corner grew more urgent.
After a close ninth round Moloney responded to his team's urgings to "empty the tank" in the last, and shook Nasukawa with a left-right combo to the head a minute into the round.
But a series of body blows appeared to keep the Japanese fighter in contention and ultimately helped convince the judges he deserved the result, which took his record to 6-0 since taking up boxing.
"He was so good," Nasukawa said after the fight, through an interpreter. "I was shaky for the first time in the ring.
"I think I became a man."
The fight came on the undercard of Junto Nakatani's WBC bantamweight world title defence against David Cuellar, which the Japanese won through a third round knock-out after two knockdowns of the Mexican challenger.
