Naoya Inoue continues to search out new methods to win.
It was an damage stoppage this time round, as he compelled TJ Doheny to concede early within the seventh spherical. A mix compelled Doheny’s leg to provide out as he limped away in ache. Referee Bence Kovacs waved off the competition at 0:28 of the seventh spherical Tuesday at Ariake Area in Tokyo, Japan.
Inoue (27-0, 24 knockouts) retained his RING and undisputed 122-pound championship with the win of their ESPN+ principal occasion.
There was significantly much less drama than in Inoue’s earlier protection on Could 6 on the Tokyo Dome. He was compelled to outlive the primary knockdown of his profession when he was decked by Luis Nery within the opening spherical. Inoue was in a position to get it again in blood, as he floored Nery 3 times en path to a sixth-round knockout.
Nothing near the specter of a repeat surfaced on this combat. Motion was sluggish out the gate. Each fighters pawed with their jab within the first spherical. Inoue always tapped the proper glove of Doheny (26-5, 20 KOs) together with his left. Neither fighter landed something of consequence within the feel-’em out spherical.
Inoue started to select up the tempo within the second. Doheny was on the defensive but it surely proved efficient as Inoue was not free-flowing together with his mixtures. The defending champion used fixed motion to by no means permit his southpaw challenger to arrange his offense.
Doheny loved success together with his straight left hand within the third, his better of the combat to that time. Inoue was nonetheless sluggish shifting, relative to the sequence of explosive performances he has supplied via 4 weight divisions. Doheny regarded for alternatives whereas they had been nonetheless there throughout these moments.
No matter momentum was loved by Doheny shortly shifted again to Inoue in a robust fourth spherical. Doheny refused to play the position of a +2000 underdog (Inoue was an -6500 favourite coming into the combat). The previous IBF 122-pound titlist rode out Inoue’s surges and located a house for his left hand each upstairs and to the physique. Inoue’s straight proper to the physique pushed Doheny to the ropes.
A aggressive fifth spherical prompted Inoue to dial up the stress within the sixth. The swing proved to be the start of the tip. Doheny’s marked up face continued to redden although he by no means got here near touching the canvas. Inoue went on the assault and had Doheny damage on numerous events, nevertheless.
The seventh spherical opened with Inoue selecting up the place he left off within the previous body. A proper hand was adopted by a mix, together with a left hook to the physique that precipitated Doheny’s proper leg to twist. He instantly turned away and signaled to the ref his sudden damage earlier than he took a knee. The combat was instantly waved off at that time.
Nevertheless anticlimactic, it nonetheless goes down as a win for Inoue, who’s now 21-0 in true title fights spanning 4 weight divisions. He additionally claimed two first-round knockouts in his transient keep as a secondary WBA bantamweight titlist.
The stoppage was his ninth in a row, together with an ideal 4-0 (4 KOs) at 122.
Maybe extra intriguing are his future plans.
Corridor of Fame promoter Bob Arum confirmed the already speculated information of a 3rd combat on the 12 months for Inoue. Ought to the date maintain, it is going to mark Inoue’s most energetic marketing campaign since 2017.
An opponent wasn’t confirmed, although Australia’s Sam Goodman prompt he’ll land the task because the IBF obligatory challenger. Inoue was beforehand ordered to honor his WBA obligatory title protection versus Murodjon Akhmadaliev. Nevertheless, it didn’t cease his workforce from handpicking Doheny as an opponent.
With a win in December, the plan is to then carry Inoue again to the U.S.—although he didn’t specify in what capability.
“I perceive he’ll be coming again right here… on the finish of the 12 months,” mentioned Arum. “After which we’re taking him to the USA for an enormous celebration in Las Vegas.”
Inoue has fought seven straight occasions in Japan after a two-fight stint in Vegas throughout the pandemic.
The win on Tuesday noticed Inoue change into simply the third male boxer to make no less than two profitable defenses of the undisputed championship within the four-belt period. Inoue joined Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Devin Haney on that record. He beforehand held the Ring and undisputed bantamweight championship. Inoue turned the primary totally unified 118-pound champ in additional than 50 years after his Dec. 2022 knockout win over Paul Butler.
From there got here his title blitz in 2023. He knocked out unified titlists Stephen Fulton and Marlon Tapales to win all 4 belts in a two-fight span. The feat noticed him be a part of Claressa Shields, Terence Crawford and Katie Taylor as the one two-division, four-belt undisputed champions. Inoue was additionally honored by The Ring and practically each different publication because the 2023 Fighter of the 12 months.
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