Undisputed super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue earned a TKO over TJ Doheny after the challenger suffered an injury and could not continue.
Doheny was already outclassed and on his way to defeat when the Irishman bowed out 16 seconds into the seventh round. Inoue moves to 28-0 with a 25th stoppage as Doheny seemed to have a back injury coupled with certain pain from sickening body shots.
CompuBox broke down the fight by saying, “Doheny, a big underdog, actually landed more power punches than Inoue in two of the seven rounds fought. He landed 26 body punches on Inoue and kept Inoue at bay for much of the early portion of the fight.
“Inoue landed 31 body punches, and sensing Doheny weakening, he threw a fight-high 61 punches in the sixth round, landing 30 power punches.
“Doheny seemed to hurt his leg [hip or back] at the end of the sixth round, and after absorbing four additional power punches in the opening seconds of the seventh round, Doheny waived off the fight due to injury.”
It wasn’t the finish Inoue wanted, but he still impressed a worldwide audience and was promised a fight in the United States by promoter Bob Arum after the fight. Following an event in Tokyo around New Year 2024, Inoue will then head to Las Vegas for a super-event in 2025.
‘The Monster’ also promised to show more in the future, with a move up to featherweight, which is a possibility soon.
Inoue cements his place as the pound-for-pound number three fighter on the planet behind Terence Crawford and Oleksandr Usyk.
Naoya Inoue – Undercard results
Yoshiki Takei successfully defended his WBO bantamweight title against former world titleholder Daigo Higa. The pair engaged in a war for the duration of the content, not wanting to take a backward step for the full twelve rounds. After a phonebox encounter, Takei took the decision following a solid final round after being dropped in the previous session.
At the conclusion, judge Edward Ligas carded 115-112 for the champion. Additionally, Masakazu Murase and Danrex Tapdasan both saw it 114-113 for Takei.
Ismael Barroso suffered the fifth defeat of his career with a ninth-round stoppage against the unbeaten Andy Hiraoka. Barroso hit the canvas after a barrage with only seconds remaining in the round. After the Venezuelan was too slow getting to his feet, referee Chris Young called a halt at 2:58 of the ninth.
Hiraoka is now 24-0 following a nineteenth stoppage as Barroso falls to 25-5-2.
As welterweight Jin Sasaki recorded his seventeenth knockout from 18 wins by ending his clash with Qamil Balla within a minute of the seventh round. The 23-year-old is now on a six-fight KO streak after suffering a first loss and drawing a six-rounder either side of yet another stoppage.
A world title shot isn’t far away for the hard-hitting 147-pounder.
Toshiki Shimomachi won a unanimous ten-round decision over Ryuya Tsugawa as the southpaw retained the Japanese bantamweight title. Scores read 97-92 and 96-93 twice as the 27-year-old moved to 19-1-3. Tsugawa drops to 13-2 after his second professional loss.
Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay. Learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor since 2010. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
