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Naoya Inoue, arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in boxing, returns to action Tuesday when he defends his undisputed junior featherweight title against TJ Doheny. The fight will go down from Tokyo’s Ariake Arena. The fight will be Inoue’s second defense as undisputed champion at 122 pounds as well as his first fight since stopping Luis Nery in May.
Junior featherweight is the fourth division in which Inoue has won world championship gold, it is also the second division where Inoue has simultaneously held all four recognized world championships to become undisputed. Inoue’s first undisputed run came at bantamweight, where he last defeated Paul Butler to add the WBO title to the WBC, WBA and IBF belts he already held.
Any questions about how Inoue would handle the move up to junior featherweight were immediately answered in his first fight at the weight, with Inoue ripping through Stephen Fulton to capture the WBC and WBO championships in July 2023. Fulton was viewed as a fringe contender for top 10 pound-for-pound lists but he was overwhelmed by Inoue’s relentless attack.
Inoue next defeated Marlon Tapales to add the IBF and WBA titles and become undisputed champion. He would make the first defense of his undisputed status against Luis Nery in May. Nery became the first man to knock Inoue down but Inoue otherwise dominated the fight en route to a sixth-round knockout.
Doheny is a former IBF champion at 122 pounds, and is a familiar name with Japanese boxing fans. The Irish fighter won his lone world championship from Ryosuke Iwasa in Tokyo in 2018 and retaining against Ryohei Takahashi before dropping the title to Daniel Roman in 2019.
The loss to Roman was the start of a 2-4 run for Doheny after winning the first 21 fights of his professional career. Since that rough patch, Doheny has rattled off three consecutive victories. All three of those wins have come in Tokyo, making him an attractive choice for Inoue.
The frequent fights in Tokyo also explain why Inoue and his team pursued a lower-risk fight with Doheny rather than facing Murodjon Akhmadaliev, who the WBA has already ordered Inoue to face. Despite Inoue not following through on the WBA order, he has not faced any disciplinary actions and will be defending the WBA title, along with the three others, on Tuesday.
The undercard features some attractive fights, with WBO bantamweight champion Yoshiki Takei defending his title against former flyweight champion Daigo Higa and interim WBA super lightweight champion Ismael Barroso facing Andy Hiraoka.
Inoue vs. Doheny fight card, odds
- Naoya Inoue (c) -5000 vs. TJ Doheny +1700, undisputed junior featherweight title
- Yoshiki Takei (c) -400 vs. Daigo Higa +295, WBO bantamweight title
- Ismael Barroso (ic) vs. Andy Hiraoka, WBA interim junior welterweight title
- Jin Sasaki vs. Qamil Balla, welterweights
- Toshiki Shimomachi vs. Ryuya Tsugawa, junior featherweights
Viewing information
Date: Sept. 3 | Start time: 5:45 a.m. ET (main card)
Location: Ariake Arena — Tokyo
TV channel: ESPN+
Prediction
Boxing can be an unpredictable game, but it doesn’t get much more predictable than Inoue vs. Doheny. That’s why Inoue is a -5000 favorite coming into the fight. Doheny has lost to far worse fighters than Inoue and Inoue has not only never been defeated, but he has also scored a stoppage in 24 of his 27 professional fights, many of those against better fighters than Doheny.
This fight was made because Doheny had done just enough to be a credible opponent while also being a familiar name in Japan. It’ll be a nice payday for him, but Inoue can likely end the fight the second he feels the desire to put his foot on the gas. Pick: Naoya Inoue via KO3
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