BoxRec

Naoya Inoue will defend his undisputed junior featherweight championship vs. TJ Doheny in September in Tokyo, sources tell ESPN. Inoue, ESPN’s No. 3 p4p boxer, will make the second defense of all four 122-pound titles. Doheny has won three consecutive fights, all in Japan.

Mike Coppenger.

Do I actually have to take a day off to watch Doheny?
Let's hope it's at least on a weekend.

I was fine with Goodman, after all those killers Inoue fought. But I could understand the hate for that fight.
Now we get the guy who Goodman dominated. Can't get any worse than that.

what the eff is this

does doheny have dirty pics of inoue and the bobfather or something

the terrible thing is that it sounds like they plan to fight goodman next, it's not just a 1 off weak tea

Is this a joke ?

inoue has challenged himself so much. this doesnt seem like a fight he'd push for. does arum have a boner for tj or something

goodman, although a meh opponent, okay i can understand. he's mandatory and has been on a solid run and inoue is due for an easier fight. a young unbeaten challenger it can be billed as. but an older guy goodman (and mick conlan) dominated?

Considering Inoue's world status it does strike me as a bit off

Pulling a Terence Crawford, hold World Status boxing for the most part inferior opponents

his opposition is good overall, very ambitious fighter, but this is a joke

Naoya Inoue vs TJ Doheny official for September 3rd in Tokyo

Yoshiki Takei vs Daigo Higa and Ismael Barroso vs Andy Hiraoka are also on tap

Undisputed super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue is officially set to meet TJ Doheny atop a September 3rd title tripleheader at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena.

It’s worth noting that the announcement claims Inoue (27-0, 24 KO) will defend all four of his titles, meaning the WBA has not acted on its outstanding order that Inoue face Murodjon Akhmadaliev.

As mentioned before, Doheny (26-4, 20 KO) is a familiar face to the Japanese audience, having fought his last three in the Land of the Rising Sun. He’s also 37 years old and entered that three-fight run on a 2-4 skid, making him far more financially appealing than competitively appealing for “The Monster.”

In other championship action, WBO bantamweight champion Yoshiki Takei (9-0, 8 KO) will make his inaugural defense against former flyweight titlist Daigo Higa (21-2-1, 19 KO). Takei is coming off an entertaining decision win over Jason Moloney that saw him survive near-disaster in the final round, while Higa is 6-1-1 since the JBC forced him up to 118 following his weight miss against Cristofer Rosales, including a well-aged loss to future champ Ryosuke Nishida and a draw with current contender and potential title challenger Seiya Tsutsumi.

With Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz due to fight Jose Valenzuela on August 3rd, interim WBA super lightweight champion Ismael Barroso (25-4-2, 23 KO) will make his first appearance since January opposite Andy Hiraoka (23-0, 18 KO). This is an incredibly overdue step up for Hiraoka after his 2021 knockout of Jin Sasaki (17-1-1, 16 KO), who also sees action against Qamil Balla (15-1-1, 8 KO)

If nothing else, at least we are not going to wait long for his next fight.

Inoue trying to fit in 3 fights this year, Nery, Doheny and either MJ or Goodman in December, so hard to complain, Would be good if others did something similar instead of becoming once a year fighters.

Doheny, is ranked #2 by the WBO [behind a guy who said no to facing Inoue in September] will likely be the regarded as the WBO mandatory, and has gone and made his own opportunities by working 3 successive shows for Inoue's promoter (Ohashi, not Top Rank), scoring 3 wins on Japanese soil in the last 13 or so months, including one against a regional champion.

If this was to be his only fight, or one of two, then fine, but fitting 3 fights into a year with one easy one is hard to grumble about, especially after a run of Fulton, Tapales and Nery.

Worth adding he said he'll be sticking at 122lbs for another 2 years and intends to fight 3 times a year for both, so that's 6 fights, MJ, Goodman ?,?,?, Nakatani?

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.

solid undercard

Unlike the main event
But it's actually a solid card. I'm gonna watch it, if I can make time.

Kinda surprised they let Hiraoka fight War Barosso. That's gonna be fun.

Really like the under-card, and so glad to learn ESPN plan to show Toshiki Shimomachi, a very big fan of his and stablemate Jinki Maeda

Next Tuesday

Just saw that on ESPN:

On ESPN+

Title fight: Naoya Inoue vs. TJ Doheny, 12 rounds, for Inoue's undisputed junior featherweight championship

Title fight: Yoshiki Takei vs. Daigo Higa, 12 rounds, for Takei's WBO bantamweight title

Non-televised card

Ismael Barroso vs. Andy Hiraoka, 12 rounds, junior welterweights

Jin Sasaki vs. Qamil Balla, 12 rounds, welterweights

Toshiki Shimomachi vs. Ryuya Tsugawa, 10 rounds, junior featherweights

Why wouldn't you show Warroso vs Hiraoka?
That's some bs.

https://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/ ... ht-espn%2B

that is the one im most interested in tbh. i assume will still be some way to find on stream

Yeah, I’m actually more intrigued by this one than the main event. It’s a shame we have to look up Japanese streams ourselves.

Maybe the main event will turn out to be more exciting than expected. Doheny can crack —maybe he’ll go full beast mode and surprise us all.

The most frustrating thing with the fight is that the Akhmudaliev fight was there to be made

ya but bob says tj doheny is a megastar in japan

Isn’t TJ an Ionut Baluta victim?

Date: Tuesday September 3, 2024
Location: Ariake Arena - Koto City, Tokyo, Japan
TV/Stream: ESPN

Start Times
ESPN+: (Preliminary Card)
ESPN+: 5:45 am ET | 2:45 am PT | 6:45 pm local (Main Card)
Sky Sports: 7:30 am BST (Main Card)

Promoted by: Top Rank Inc. featuring Ohashi Promotions and Teiken Promotions

Fight Card

Undisputed Super Bantamweight Championship
Naoya Inoue vs. TJ Doheny

WBO Bantamweight Championship
Yoshiki Takei vs. Daigo Higa

Interim WBA Super Lightweight Championship
Ismael Barroso vs. Andy Hiraoka

WBO APAC Welterweight Championship
Jin Sasaki vs. Qamil Balla

Japanese Super Bantamweight Championship
Toshiki Shimomachi vs. Ryuya Tsugawa

Good first fight, bad decision tho

It's time for WAR
I'd be surprised with Warroso wins, but with his power it's possible.

No way this one goes the distance.