Naoya Inoue-TJ Doheny undercard set for September 3
The undercard is set for Naoya Inoue’s undisputed junior-featherweight title defense against TJ Doheny on September 3 at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
Four-division champion Inoue, 27-0 (24 KOs), is one of the leading fighters in the world, while Australia-based Irishman Doheny is 26-4 (20 KOs) and popular in Japan after several underdog victories in the Land of the Rising Sun.
In the co-feature the WBO bantamweight champion Yoshiki Takei, 9-0 (8 KOs), makes his first title defense against former WBC flyweight champion Daigo Higa, who is 21-2-1 (19 KOs).
At junior welterweight, the veteran Ismael Barroso (pictured), 25-4-2 (23 KOs), a 41-year-old Venezuelan puncher returns – following January’s first-round knockout of Ohara Davies – against Japanese star Andy Hiraoka, who is making his first appearance of 2024 after December’s fifth-round stopping of Sebastian Diaz Maldonado on the Inoue-Marlon Tapales undercard.
Jin Sasaki, 17-1-1 (16 KOs) fights Australian Qamil Balla, who is 15-1-1 (8 KOs). Sasaki is ranked number two by the WBO and has knocked out his past five opponents. Balla has won four in a row since a decision defeat by countryman George Kambosos Jr.
Japanese junior featherweight Toshiki Shimomachi,18-1-3 (12 KOs), meets Ryuya Tsugawa, 13-1 (9 KOs) over 10 rounds. Shimomachi is unbeaten in his past 19 fights and making the third defense of his Japanese title. The knockout artist Tsugawa is on a nine-fight winning streak, which includes eight victories by stoppage.
