TOKYO – Australian warrior Jason Moloney was seemingly 20 seconds from retaining his title.

He had the hugely popular Yoshiki Takei fatigued, outworked and out on his feet in the dying embers of the 12th round.

Takei could no longer defend himself. He could hardly lift his arms, and after the bell sounded to end the fight, Takei was taken back to his corner, where he took some time to recover.

Moloney had to wait for the verdict and would have been broken-hearted to have been so close to victory, but instead lost on the cards of Ellis Johnson and Benoit Russell (116-111) and Lou Moret (117-110).

Takei wept at the end, for he too would have known that he was seconds from allowing his dream to slip through his fingers.

And despite a near calamitous finish, it had started well for the challenger, despite his picking up two verbal warnings from referee Steve Willis for straying low with his left hand and then having a point deducted for the same infraction in the second.

Still, Moloney hustled and bustled his way in, knowing his experience could reveal itself more in the later rounds. Takei had only had to go into the 11th round once before, with six of his previous eight fights finished in three rounds.

Takei roughed up Moloney on the inside in the third, with the Australian telling Mr. Willis he had taken a shot behind the head, and overall it was an impressive round for the challenger, who seemingly landed a hurtful and legitimate shot downstairs among several hard blows to the head.

Moloney took a good right hand moving forwards, but in the same sequence of events Takei slipped to the canvas to open Round 4, and Moloney visited the canvas for the same reason seconds later. With less than a minute left in the session, Takei launched a prolonged attack, with the Tokyo Dome getting louder and louder with each aggressive burst. 

Moloney landed a right near the bell, but Takei’s left hand – landing from range to the head and body – was starting to sing.

Takei was looking fresh and ambitious, and that combination was as potent as the straight left Moloney walked into in the sixth. People had been talking about Takei’s power going in, but he was a nightmare to hit clean, swaying this way and that, moving quickly on his feet and never in the same place for more than a split second.

Moloney is as tough as they come. He stayed on mission through the sixth, but it was starting to look like a huge ask against the former kickboxer, who was prepared to meet fire with fire as the Australian pressed forward. And then, on the bell, Takei landed a sizzling left to the body and a right hook up top that went all the way down to the champion’s boots. Fortunately for Moloney, he had a minute’s reprieve.

Takei’s variety was off the charts in the seventh. He’s not a conventional type, as he sent lead right uppercuts and wide left hooks Moloney’s way. Some of it worked, but Moloney was having little joy himself.

Takei was a picture of calm in the corner, and maybe he was about to switch off because Moloney landed a cracking right down the shoot that shook the Japanese fighter. Takei slipped to the deck again and moments later took a stiff jab. He was becoming a more static target as the fight progressed and there were signs that, as far as the deep waters Moloney hoped to take Takei into, they were just about up to their waists.

Moloney was buzzing forwards still – so much so that he came in headfirst and the two had an ugly clash that left Takei reeling – but referee Willis allowed Takei a moment to recover.

With three to go it was apparently in the balance. Moloney was looking more comfortable and had adapted, and Takei’s accuracy was not what it had been earlier on. Moloney knew he couldn’t switch off. The champion must have also felt that he needed the last three rounds. Takei again worked the body effectively with his left hand, but Moloney’s engine was a sight to behold and showed no signs of slowing.

Moloney was caught a couple of times coming in on straight lines in the 11th, firstly by a left to the body and then a straight left to his face, and he was given a moment to recover from another low shot which, had Moloney showed out on, he might have been able to get another point removed from the challenger. A proper fighter, Moloney banged his gloves together and told Takei to reconvene.

“Yo-shi-ki” chants reverberated around the Dome to open the final round. Moloney did some of his best work in the fight in close, and caused Takei to hold, and there were signs he might unravel as Moloney surged in with his trusty engine propelling him forwards. Moloney began to tee off, and with some 30 seconds left Takei was in dire straits, unable to defend himself, all at sea, but he somehow managed to stay on his feet until the final bell and hang on to victory by mere seconds.

It was a stunning, thrilling climax. Another 20 seconds and Moloney would perhaps have finished the job, and one wonders whether, had Takei gone down, he would have had the strength to even stand back up.

But, as it was, doubt lingered about what would be read out on the scorecards.

When Takei was able to get back to his feet, the fighters embraced and then the scorecards were read out. Moloney’s heart was broken, and the Japanese fans in the Dome nearly blew the roof off.

Moloney, who was making his second defense, is now 27-3 (19 KOs), while Takei is 9-0 (8 KOs), and that was a test of the acid kind.