Pound-for-pound star and reigning unified super-bantamweight champ Naoya Inoue will, as followers know, subsequent face Irish warrior TJ Doheny. Who? That is the response some followers have had on the struggle announcement. Southpaw Doheny is 37 years previous and he has a great report at 26-4(20), with him by no means having been stopped. Doheny, a former IBF super-bantamweight champion, has received his final three fights by stoppage, with every of them happening in Japan, the place he’ll face “The Monster” on September third.
Doheny final tasted defeat in March of final yr, when he dropped a call towards Sam Goodman, who’s Inoue’s IBF necessary challenger (and can virtually definitely be subsequent for Inoue, assuming Doheny doesn’t pull off the, pardon the pun, monster upset in September). Goodman was anticipated to have been subsequent for Inoue, however the Australian fighter injured his hand in a keep-busy struggle that he determined to take forward of his shot at Inoue.
So, in comes Doheny, and it’s truthful to say that the critics have had a good bit to say about this struggle. Certainly, Eddie Hearn has gone so far as to say the struggle is “a horrific mismatch.”
Talking with BoxNation, Hearn mentioned Inoue needs to be going through his WBA necessary, Murodjon Akhmadaliev subsequent, not Doheny.
“Gutted, devastated, disappointing for boxing. Disappointing for Japan,” Hearn mentioned of the upcoming struggle between Inoue and Doheny. “If I hadn’t labored with TJ Doheny 5 – 6 years in the past I’d actually go in on this struggle. However I don’t need to disrespect TJ as a result of he’s a pleasant man. It’s a horrific mismatch. I don’t perceive why, for some purpose, Workforce Inoue and Mr. Honda and everybody, I do know for a truth they don’t just like the Akhmadaliev struggle. I don’t perceive that you simply’ve bought a pound-for-pound arguably primary, who has the chance to struggle his necessary. I wouldn’t anticipate him to choose Akhmadaliev in a voluntary…..it’s arduous to say Inoue is ducking Akhmadaliev, however he truly is.”
Is Hearn being too harsh right here, or is he spot on? Doheny will in fact not like being known as a challenger who will give Inoue nothing greater than “a horrific mismatch,” any greater than Inoue will like being known as a ducker. In time, if Inoue will get previous Doheny after which Goodman, and if he then fights and defeats Akhmadaliev, everybody will probably be blissful.
However for now, Inoue is broadly anticipated to have his approach with Doheny, even when the powerful Irishman has by no means been KO’d. Will this modification on September third?
