Boxing: ‘Monster’ Inoue TKOs TJ Doheny to keep undisputed super bantamweight crown

TOKYO (Kyodo) — Japanese boxing superstar Naoya Inoue stopped Ireland’s TJ Doheny in the seventh round to retain the undisputed super bantamweight world championship on Tuesday.

The 31-year-old, nicknamed “Monster,” registered his ninth straight knockout at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena after landing a body combination that left Doheny clutching his back and unable to continue.

“I think there may have been some accumulation of damage,” said Inoue, who showed disappointment at the anticlimactic ending. “I wanted to make sure I fought a carefully structured fight.”

Widely regarded as one of the world’s best pound-for-pound boxers, the undefeated Inoue most recently defended his titles in May with a sixth-round technical knockout of Mexico’s Luis Nery in front of 43,000 fans at Tokyo Dome.

The Kanagawa Prefecture native became just the second fighter to capture all four world championship belts in two different weight classes when he unified the super bantamweight division by beating Filipino Marlon Tapales in December 2023.

With his victory over former IBF world champion Doheny, Inoue improved to 28-0 with 24/25 knockouts.

The 37-year-old Doheny had fought several previous bouts in Japan, including when he won the IBF super bantam belt from Ryosuke Iwasa in August 2018.

Despite facing Inoue as a rank underdog, the Australia-based southpaw kept the champion off balance in the early rounds with an unorthodox fight plan.

Inoue remained patient and started to inflict damage in the fifth and sixth rounds with power punches to his opponent’s body.

After Inoue unleashed a lighting four-punch combination early in the seventh, Doheny signaled he could no longer fight and limped to his corner. He later needed assistance to return to the locker room.

Inoue said he recognized the danger posed by the wily Doheny (26-5, 20 KOs) and had fought in a calculated manner.

“Boxing isn’t easy. It’s not a sport where you can defeat your opponent just by going for the knockout,” Inoue said. “I made sure to understand the fight well and structure my boxing accordingly.”

Japan’s Yoshiki Takei earlier retained the WBO bantamweight crown in a unanimous decision against countryman Daigo Higa.

The 28-year-old Takei, a former kickboxer who fights out of Inoue’s Ohashi Gym, improved to 10-0 with eight KOs.