Nick Ball vs TJ Doheny Preview March 15th, 2025
Unbeaten WBA Featherweight Champion Nick Ball defends his belt for the second time when he takes on former IBF Super Bantamweight Champion TJ Doheny of Ireland this Saturday, March 15th. The 12-rounder takes place in Ball’s hometown of Liverpool, England and can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. Ball last fought in October when he stopped Ronny Rios in the 10th round. Ball won the title last June when he edged Raymond Ford by a split decision. Doheny was last in action in September over in Tokyo, Japan where he was halted in the seventh round by Naoya Inoue in a shot at the undisputed Super Bantamweight Title.
Ball vs Doheny Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- TJ Doheny +900
- Nick Ball -1250
My Pick
The 28-year-old Ball of Liverpool, enters the contest with a near-perfect mark of 21-0-1 with 11 Ko’s and has 124 rounds of pro experience to his name since making his debut in 2017. Prior to that he enjoyed a good amateur career which saw him box at the 2013 Great Britain Junior Championships. He measures 5-feet-2-inches tall with an unlisted reach so gives up 3.5 inches in height to Doheny. He has decent power in his fists with 57.1 per cent of his wins coming by stoppage but has gone the distance in three of his past four fights.
He had won five fights in a row by stoppage and 11 of 13 until going the distance with Isaac Dogboe in November, and 2023 and had earned the nickname ‘Wrecking Ball’ over that stretch. That being said, just one of his first 11 opponents had a winning record. Ball won the vacant WBC Silver Featherweight Title in April, 2022 when he stopped Isaac Lowe in the sixth round and defended it three times against Nathanael Kakololo, Jesus Ramirez Rubio and Ludumo Lamati, all by stoppage.
Two of those wins came in the 12th and final round so it’s obvious that Ball’s power is still evident late in fights. Ball’s first attempt at a world title came against Rey Vargas last March but he failed to lift the belt as the two battled to a 12-round split decision draw. Ball dropped Vargas in the eighth and 11th rounds but the scorecards read 116-110 Ball, 113-113 and 114-112 Vargas and Vargas retained the WBC Featherweight Title in a very controversial decision.
The 38-year-old Doheny hails from Ireland, but now fights out of Australia. He’s 26-5 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 5-5 in his last 10 fights. Doheny measures just over 5-feet-5-inches tall with a 68-inch and owns a pretty solid chin, but has been down before as a pro. Since his debut, Doheny has 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. Doheny’s 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; a 10-round unanimous decision to Sam Goodman in 2023 in a shot at the IBF Inter-Continental and WBO Oriental Super Bantamweight Belts. Doheny then stopped Kazuki Nakajima in the fourth round in 2023 for the WBO Asia Pacific Belt before losing to Inoue.
Prediction…
Ball is 10 years younger than Doheny and has the power to do some damage, even late in fights. Doheny has a pretty durable chin and his only stoppage loss was to Inoue, with a body shot. Doheny’s awkward style gave Inoue some problems early in that fight and it’s possible he could do the same against Ball. However Ball is a relentless puncher and Doheny will have to nail him from the outside or simply absorb the champion’s power shots. I believe Ball’s aggression will eventually pay off and if he doesn’t stop Doheny he’ll certainly retain his belts by decision.
Ball is 10 years younger and more aggressive.
Play: Ball -1250 @ BetOnline.ag
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Nick Ball betting • TJ Doheny betting