Perennial junior bantamweight contender Andrew Moloney travelled from his home in Australia to Mexico where he was due to face Argi Cortes in an IBF junior bantamweight title eliminator initially in July.

The fight was beset by problems from the onset. It was originally announced to take place in Durango on July 12, moved to Mazatlan seven days later and back to Durango on August 9 and 16. At five days' notice the fight was moved to Mexico City at high altitude.

It proved the last straw as Moloney's team decided fighter safety took precedence and walked away from the fight.

Cortes remained on the show and beat late substitute Bairon Rodriguez by 10-round unanimous decision. However, Moloney was left wondering what was next.

The IBF ruled that Moloney is the mandatory for the winner of Willibaldo Garcia and Kenshiro Teraji, who will meet on Ring V in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on December 27.

The sanctioning body also stated that the winner must face Moloney within 180 days (by June 25) and will not consider optional defense or unification contests. Garcia and Teraji agreed to these terms.

That means the winner of Ring/WBC/WBO champion Jesse Rodriguez and WBA ruler Fernando Martinez, who will meet on Ring IV, will have to wait a little longer in their pursuit of becoming undisputed 115-pound king.

Moloney (27-4, 17 KOs) is The Ring's No. 6 junior bantamweight. He faced pound-for-pound star Junto Nakatani for the vacant WBO title in 2023, but he was dropped three times and eventually stopped in the final frame.

The Australian returned with a 10-round points win over Judy Flores seven months later before losing a split decision against Pedro Guevara for the WBC interim title.