Japanese undisputed super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue will participate in the second title defense of his belts as he has been confirmed to face Irish challenger TJ Doheny on Tuesday, September 3rd, at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. The two had previously been rumored to fight over the past few weeks and will now compete in an actual title bout set to occur in less than two months.
Presumably, WBA super bantamweight (122 lbs) mandatory contender Murodjon Akhmadaliev (12-1, 9 KO’s) from Uzbekistan will receive compensation for stepping aside to allow the match between Naoya Inoue (27-0, 24 KO’s) and TJ Doheny (26-0, 24 KO’s) to commence, based on the fact that Inoue will be allowed to hold onto and defend his WBA title. The WBA had previously ordered Inoue and its #1 122 lbs contender, Akhmadaliev, to commence with negotiations for a mandated title bout.
The remaining 122 lbs world titles [WBC, WBO, and IBF] will also be defended by Inoue on September 3rd, marking the second time he will defend his titles as an undisputed champion.
TJ Doheny appears to be the ideal choice [over Akhmadaliev] for Inoue to face in Japan, having gained a decent amount of notoriety after competing in the country at least four times and dispatching three Japanese fighters during his bouts there.
On paper, Inoue is the resounding favorite according to recent betting odds, with at least one oddsmaker [FanDuel] reportedly giving Inoue a whopping 97% chance to win his upcoming contest against Doheny.
It is unknown whether these odds—and any subsequent odds revealed in the upcoming weeks—will affect Inoue’s ratings within the pound-for-pound (P4P) rankings if he manages to secure an expected win over Doheny.
In terms of competitiveness, there is little to suggest Doheny stands much of a chance against Inoue. Doheny’s current record shows he has gone 0-3 in his past three world title [or interim world title] fights, following a brief reign as the IBF 122 lbs champion from 2018 to 2019.
Further factors indicating that Doheny is sharply outmatched include his age of 37, compared to the 31-year-old Inoue, who will come in as the younger and fresher fighter. Inoue’s #2 position on The Ring’s P4P rankings further underscores the overwhelming odds stacked against Doheny for this fight.
Form-wise, both fighters are currently on knockout (KO) streaks, but compared to Inoue’s unblemished record, Doheny’s last three wins—all by technical knockout (TKO)—have come against unranked contenders. His last loss occurred over a year ago, where he lost handily by unanimous decision (UD) to a higher-rated contender, Australian fighter Sam Goodman (19-0, 8 KO’s).
The undercard will also feature several well-known fighters, most notably Venezuelan former interim WBA super lightweight (140 lbs) champion Ismael Barroso (25-4-2, 23 KO’s), who will face Japanese contender Andy Hiraoka (23-0, 18 KO’s) in a non-title 140 lbs bout scheduled for 12 rounds.
At bantamweight (118 lbs), Japanese WBO champion Yoshiki Takei (9-0, 8 KO’s) will defend his recently won title for the first time against countryman and former world champion Daigo Higa (21-2-1, 19 KO’s).
Welterweight (147 lbs) Japanese champion Jin Sasaki (17-1-1, 16 KO’s) is also notable as he looks to defend his Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) and WBO [Asia Pacific] titles against Australian challenger Qamil Balla (15-1-1, 8 KO’s).
