Junior bantamweight contender Andrew Moloney was eagerly waiting the opportunity to face the winner of the IBF title fight between Willibaldo Garcia and Kenshiro Teraji scheduled to take place on the "Night of The Samurai" event in Riyadh, on December 27.

However when Garcia fell ill, the fight was cancelled at the 11th hour and now Moloney wants his title shot.

"Willibaldo was supposed to fight me in his first defense, but his team asked for an exemption to fight Teraji," Moloney (28-4, 18 KOs) told The Ring.

"The IBF let that fight go ahead as long as it was on December 27 and no later, with no more exemptions. That fight was obviously cancelled, so Willibaldo will have to fight me next."

BoxingScene reported this week that Teraji's team are filing a request with the IBF to order that matchup again, though it's unclear whether they would allow this given the timeline.

The 35-year-old Australian became the mandatory after an ill-fated Mexico trip to face Argi Cortes when they were due to fight in an eliminator.

"We spent a full month in Mexico and after six date changes, multiple different cities the fight was cancelled," he said. "The IBF ruled that I would move into the mandatory position and fight for the world title."

The IBF mandated that Garcia would have to defend his title against Moloney by June 25.

Moloney respects Garcia and is keen for the fight to happen sooner rather than later.

"He applies a lot of pressure on his opponents," he said. "He is very wild and throws a high volume of punches.

"I'm really looking forward to fighting him, I can see a lot of holes in his defence. Let's get this fight locked in. I'm ready."

Moloney reiterates he won't step-aside for either Teraji to face Garcia or for Ring and unified champion Jesse Rodriguez boxing the Mexican beltholder next in an attempt to become undisputed 115-pound king.

"I've waited long enough for my shot at this IBF world title," he said. "[Rodriguez] can wait a few months; I'll get hold of the IBF belt and we can fight for undisputed straight away."

Moloney's long-time manager, Tony Tolj, has seen his fighter come up short in title fights against then WBA 115-pound ruler Joshua Franco and The Ring's No. 6-rated pound-for-pound star Junto Nakatani. Nonetheless, he believes his fighter's moment is now.

"Andrew will be next and will be more than ready for the fight of his life," said Tolj.