Naoya Inoue Halts TJ Doheny In 7th Round, Retains RING/Undisputed 122-Pound Championship

Naoya Inoue continues to find new ways to win.

It was an injury stoppage this time around, as he forced TJ Doheny to concede early in the seventh round. A combination forced Doheny’s leg to give out as he limped away in pain. Referee Bence Kovacs waved off the contest at 0:28 of the seventh round Tuesday at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.

Inoue (27-0, 24 knockouts) retained his RING and undisputed 122-pound championship with the win in their ESPN+ main event.

There was considerably less drama than in Inoue’s previous defense on May 6 at the Tokyo Dome. He was forced to survive the first knockdown of his career when he was decked by Luis Nery in the opening round. Inoue was able to get it back in blood, as he floored Nery three times en route to a sixth-round knockout.

Nothing close to the threat of a repeat surfaced in this fight. Action was slow out the gate. Both fighters pawed with their jab in the first round. Inoue constantly tapped the right glove of Doheny (26-5, 20 KOs) with his left. Neither fighter landed anything of consequence in the feel-’em out round.

Inoue began to pick up the pace in the second. Doheny was on the defensive but it proved effective as Inoue was not free-flowing with his combinations. The defending champion used constant movement to never allow his southpaw challenger to set up his offense.

Doheny enjoyed success with his straight left hand in the third, his best of the fight to that point. Inoue was still slow moving, relative to the series of explosive performances he has offered through four weight divisions. Doheny looked for opportunities while they were still there during those moments.

Whatever momentum was enjoyed by Doheny quickly shifted back to Inoue in a strong fourth round. Doheny refused to play the role of a +2000 underdog (Inoue was an -6500 favorite entering the fight). The former IBF 122-pound titlist rode out Inoue’s surges and found a home for his left hand both upstairs and to the body. Inoue’s straight right to the body pushed Doheny to the ropes.

A competitive fifth round prompted Inoue to dial up the pressure in the sixth. The swing proved to be the beginning of the end. Doheny’s marked up face continued to redden though he never came close to touching the canvas. Inoue went on the attack and had Doheny hurt on a number of occasions, however.

The seventh round opened with Inoue picking up where he left off in the preceding frame. A right hand was followed by a combination, including a left hook to the body that caused Doheny’s right leg to twist. He immediately turned away and signaled to the ref his unexpected injury before he took a knee. The fight was immediately waved off at that point.

However anticlimactic, it still goes down as a win for Inoue, who is now 21-0 in true title fights spanning four weight divisions. He also claimed two first-round knockouts in his brief stay as a secondary WBA bantamweight titlist.

The stoppage was his ninth in a row, including a perfect 4-0 (4 KOs) at 122.

Perhaps more intriguing are his future plans.

Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum confirmed the already speculated news of a third fight on the year for Inoue. Should the date hold, it will mark Inoue’s most active campaign since 2017.

An opponent wasn’t confirmed, though Australia’s Sam Goodman suggested he will land the assignment as the IBF mandatory challenger. Inoue was previously ordered to honor his WBA mandatory title defense versus Murodjon Akhmadaliev. However, it didn’t stop his team from handpicking Doheny as an opponent.

With a win in December, the plan is to then bring Inoue back to the U.S.—though he didn’t specify in what capacity.

“I understand he’ll be coming back here… at the end of the year,” said Arum. “And then we’re taking him to the United States for a big celebration in Las Vegas.”

Inoue has fought seven straight times in Japan after a two-fight stint in Vegas during the pandemic.

The win on Tuesday saw Inoue become just the third male boxer to make at least two successful defenses of the undisputed championship in the four-belt era. Inoue joined Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Devin Haney on that list. He previously held the Ring and undisputed bantamweight championship. Inoue became the first fully unified 118-pound champ in more than 50 years after his Dec. 2022 knockout win over Paul Butler.

From there came his title blitz in 2023. He knocked out unified titlists Stephen Fulton and Marlon Tapales to win all four belts in a two-fight span. The feat saw him join Claressa Shields, Terence Crawford and Katie Taylor as the only two-division, four-belt undisputed champions. Inoue was also honored by The Ring and nearly every other publication as the 2023 Fighter of the Year.

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