Doheny to challenge undisputed champion Inoue

Irish southpaw TJ Doheny is to challenge undisputed super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue at Ariake Arena in Tokyo on 3 September.

Inoue, regarded as one of the best pound for pound boxers in the world, is unbeaten in 27 contests and has knocked out his last eight opponents.

The Japanese fighter secured his first world title more than 10 years ago and has won all 22 of his world championship bouts.

Doheny, from Portlaoise, has spent all of his career outside of Europe, fighting in Australia, US and most recently Japan.

The 37-year-old defeated Ryosuke Iwasa in August 2018 to secure the IBF junior featherweight title and defended successfully against Ryohei Takahashi, before losing the belt to Danny Roman in a unification fight.

Despite some setbacks, Doheny has bounced back with three consecutive wins in Japan against Kazuki Nakajima, Japhethlee Llamido and Bryl Bayogos.

Inoue knocked out England’s Paul Butler to unify all the bantamweight titles in December 2022 and then did likewise in the super bantamweight division, collecting the WBC and WBO world titles by stopping Stephen Fulton in July 2023 and adding the WBA and IBF crowns by seeing off Marlon Tapales in December.

The 31-year-old was named 2023 Fighter of the Year by ESPN and Ring Magazine and returned to headline at the Tokyo Dome in May, surviving a first-round knockdown to knock out Mexican two-division champion Luis Nery in the sixth.

Top Rank Chairman Bob Arum said: “Naoya Inoue is a generational talent, and every time he fights, the boxing world stops to watch the master at work.

“TJ Doheny is a veteran who can never be counted out as he’s defied the odds many times when fighting in Japan.”

Also on the bill, WBO bantamweight world champion Yoshiki Takei will defend his belt against former flyweight world champion Daigo Higa.

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