British WBA featherweight (126 lbs) champion Nick Ball (22-0-1, 13 KO’s) won in his title defense bout against Irish challenger TJ Doheny (26-6, 20 KO’s) but both sparked controversy as shows of unprofessionalism and lack of sportsmanship by the two fighters went unmentioned by the show’s organizers and commentators. The two headlined a Queensberry Promotions card on March 15th at the Echo Arena in Liverpool.
Questions were already drawn surrounding Ball’s chosen opponent in Doheny, while a former world champion, was coming off a 2024 loss to Naoya Inoue and was moved up from the super bantamweight (122 lbs) division to fight at 126 pounds after roughly five years of not fighting in the division. Coupled with Doheny’s age of 38, as opposed to Ball’s 28 years of age, Doheny was clearly propped up as an easy opponent for Ball to get a voluntary title defense and dress his record up with a notable name.
Despite Nick Ball clearly getting ahead in the fight that warranted a victory, TJ Doheny proved to be staunch opposition in his fight against the British champion as the two duked it for 10 rounds of the maximum of 12 ― until Ball netted a technical knockout (TKO) stoppage win.
Prior to Ball’s victory, he demonstrated his ability as a champion, outworking the older fighter quite handily which primarily contributed to his victory. However, Doheny was still a tough opponent, managing to weather the storm of Ball’s offensive while showing glimpses of why he was a danger himself.
Unfortunately for boxing purists, TJ Doheny showed a streak of meanness when he elected to clinch with Nick Ball frequently in a bid to halt the British champion’s array of punches. Things first came at a head at just the end of the 1st round when Doheny headlocked Ball, much to the British fighter’s frustration, and during the brief intercession by the referee Ball responded with a furious kick to the bag of Doheny’s legs. Doheny’s regular holding clearly bothered Ball who, at times, sought to match Doheny’s tactics with the same but committed to his fan-friendly style to eventually net a victory.
The kick itself didn’t have any noticeable effect on Doheny as he continued for another 11 rounds but it perfectly summed up the rather chaotic nature of the fight marked by Doheny’s frequent clinching that clearly became egregious at certain points of the bout.
Ball, known for his swarmer-punching style, eventually managed to stop Doheny in the 10th round after stepping up on the gas pedal and bombarding Doheny with punches that were left unanswered ― eventually forcing the referee to stop the fight. Ball was declared the winner by TKO and retained his WBA title for the second time since winning it last year.
Though not tipped for this year, Queensberry head Frank Warren appears to be angling for Ball to face Naoya Inoue at some point in 2026, depending on whether the Japanese undisputed champion will move up to 126 lbs by that time. Potential unification fights between Ball and other available in his divisions will likely fill up Ball’s schedule, and with Queensberry’s switch to DAZN set to be made following this last event they held with broadcaster TNT Sports, a possible path to undisputed at 126 lbs might open itself up for Nick Ball starting this year.
