Naoya Inoue vs TJ Doheny Preview September 3rd, 2024
Unbeaten undisputed Super Bantamweight Champion Naoya Inoue of Japan defends his belts against former IBF Champion TJ Doheny of Ireland in Tokyo this Tuesday, September 3rd. The 12-round contest can be seen live on ESPN+ in America with the card starting about 2:30 am EST. Fans in the UK and Ireland can catch it on Sky Sports Plus at 7:30 am. Inoue last fought in May when he was dropped for the first time in his career in the first round by Luis Nery but then decked Nery in the second and fifth rounds before stopping him in the sixth. Inoue stopped Marlon Tapales in the 10th round for the WBA and IBF Belts last December and the former Undisputed Bantamweight King halted Stephen Fulton in the eighth round five months earlier to take his WBO and WBC titles. Doheny’s last bout was in May Bryl Bayogos in the fourth round in Tokyo.
Inoue vs Doheny Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- TJ Doheny +1800
- Naoya Inoue -5500
My Pick
The 31-year-old Inoue is just the second male Japanese boxer to win world titles in four weight divisions to join Kazuto Ioka in that feat. Inoue was also a world beltholder at 108, 115 and 118 lbs and has been an undisputed champion in two different divisions. As a bantamweight, Inoue fought in the World Boxing Super Series Bantamweight Tournament and won the IBF belt when he stopped Emmanuel Rodriguez in the second round in May, 2019.
Six months later, he beat Nonito Donaire by unanimous decision in a classic battle to capture the tournament as well as Donaire’s WBA Super World Belt. Inoue had originally won the regular WBA title in May, 2018 when he stopped Jamie McDonnell in 112 seconds. After beating Donaire, Inoue defended the belts against Jason Moloney, Michael Dasmarinas and Aran Dipaen with stoppages in the seventh, eighth and third rounds respectively.
Inoue and Donaire met in a long-awaited rematch in June, 2022 with Inoue adding the WBC Bantamweight Title to his collection when he stopped the Filipino Flash in the second round. He then became undisputed with an 11th-round stoppage of Paul Butler in December, 2022. He enters the ring this Tuesday with a perfect mark of 27-0 with 24 Ko’s. Inoue is also a former WBO Jr. Bantamweight and WBC Junior Flyweight Titleholder who has all the tools to be considered one of the world’s top pound-for-pound boxers.
He defended his Junior Bantamweight Crown seven times before moving up in weight. The Japanese star became a world champion in just his sixth pro fight when he stopped Adrian Hernandez in the sixth round for his WBC Junior Flyweight Belt in May, 2014. He defended it once then moved up to super flyweight and took the title from Omar Narvaez by second-round KO in December, 2014. Known as ‘The Monster,’ Inoue has been a sensation in his homeland since turning pro in 2012 and has boxed 162 rounds since.
He’s definitely got some dynamite in his fists with an 89 per cent knockout ratio but also has fine boxing skills. Inoue has stopped his last eight opponents and has gone the distance just once since mid-2016 and that was the first fight against Donaire in 2019, but he did drop him in the 11th round. Inoue stands 5-feet-5-inches tall with a 67.5-inch reach.
Before turning pro Inoue enjoyed a fine amateur career and is now 22-0 with 19 Ko’s in world title fights. He’s also beaten the likes of Juan Carlos Payano, Ryoichi Taguchi, Kohei Kono, Antonio Nieves, David Carmona and Ricardo Rodriguez. He’s also 12-0 with 10 Kos against current or former world champions in Nery, Tapales, Fulton, Butler, Donaire, Rodriguez, Taguchi, Hernandez, Narvaez, Kono, McDonnell and Payano.
The 36-year-old Doheny hails from Ireland, but now fights out of Australia. He’s 26-4 with 20 Ko’s after starting his pro career with a perfect mark of 21-0 with 15 Ko’s. He made his pro debut in 2014 after a good amateur career which saw him reach the final of the 2006 and 2008 Irish National Championships and the semifinals of the 2005 and 2007 events. He has 178 rounds of experience under his belt since making his pro debut in 2011.
Doheny’s a skilled boxer with pretty good power in his fists as well as 77 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage including his last six. However, he’s just 5-4 in his last nine fights. Doheny measures just over 5-feet-5-inches tall with a 68-inch so has a minimal half-inch edge in reach and height on Inoue. He also owns a solid chin, but has been down before as a pro.
Since his debut, Doheny won the PABA Super Bantamweight Title and defended it half a dozen times. He won the IBF Super Bantamweight Title in Japan at the famous Korakuen Hall via a unanimous decision over Ryosuke Iwasa in 2018 and defended it by stopping Ryohei Takahashi in the 11th round five months later. He then met WBA champion Danny Roman in April, 2019 in a title unification bout and was edged by a majority decision.
His other losses came at the hands of Ionut Baluta by an eight-round unanimous decision in 2020; a 12-round unanimous decision defeat to Michael Conlan in 2021 in a shot at the interim WBA Featherweight Title after being dropped in the fifth round and a 10-round unanimous decision to Sam Goodman last year in a shot at the IBF Inter-Continental and WBO Oriental Super Bantamweight Belts. Doheny then stopped Kazuki Nakajima in the fourth round last year to win the WBO Asia Pacific Belt. It lifted his record to 4-0 in fights in Japan.
Prediction…
This isn’t really a matchup fans wanted to see and it’s basically being labelled a huge mismatch. Inoue deserves a bit of a break though I guess and he feels Japanese fans are familiar with Doheny because of his uneaten 4-0 record there. Doheny may be 36 years old but he’s a hard-hitting and solid pro even though he may be considered a bit of a journeyman. There’s no doubt Inoue has excellent power but he’s also a fine boxer. He can’t take anybody lightly though after being dropped by Nery but Inoue is a great body puncher who changes angles, speed and power when letting his hands go and I believe the best bet is that he’ll stop Doheny somewhere along the line on Tuesday.
Inoue is a fine boxer and has the power to end the contest with one punch.
Play Inoue -5500 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Naoya Inoue betting • TJ Doheny betting