Naoya Inoue defends his undisputed super-bantamweight crown as Ireland’s TJ Doheny retires with injury
By Ben Morse, CNN
(CNN) — Naoya Inoue successfully defended his undisputed super-bantamweight crown on Tuesday after TJ Doheny retired from their fight with an injury.
The Japanese champion was dominant from the opening exchanges, his speed and power overwhelming his Irish opponent.
And it all became too much for Doheny 16 seconds into the seventh round when he dropped to a knee and eventually stopped the bout with an apparent back injury.
Doheny, 37, limped away from the ring, supported on both sides by members of his team.
For Inoue, it cemented his status as one of boxing’s most dominant forces as he retained his WBA, WBO, WBC and IBF world titles at 122 pounds for the second time with his 28th win in a row.
“Probably, this fight didn’t end the way that you expected,” Inoue said afterwards, per Sky Sports. “I think it was more the accumulation of damage that I gave to him.
“I know boxing is not easy, so I really wanted to be slowing down, doing one (round) at a time, giving my opponent damage.”
Inoue is one of three active male boxers – alongside Terence Crawford and Oleksandr Usyk – who are two-weight, four-belt undisputed champions.
For the thousands assembled in Tokyo to see their hometown hero take to the ring again, it was an underwhelming end to the fight when Doheny halted proceedings early.
Inoue has now won all 23 of his title fights since his first in 2014.
“You can expect more from me in the future,” the 31-year-old said. “To all the fans around the world thank you so much for watching this fight. This is not everything that I have, I still have a long way to go.
“I am still in progress and today’s match I want to celebrate especially how TJ Doheny brought the fight into this ring and his career.”
Inoue has predominately fought in Japan where he is cheered on by a vocal fanbase. But Bob Arum – CEO of Top Rank, Inoue’s promotors – confirmed that he will be making the move to the US soon.
“I understand he’ll be coming back here to Tokyo to defend his title again at the end of the year and then we’re taking him to the United States for a big celebration in Las Vegas,” 92-year-old Arum said in the ring afterwards.
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