One of the sport’s very best is set for his second fight of the year.
Four-division and reigning undisputed 122-pound king Naoya Inoue will face TJ Doheny on September 3, Top Rank officially announced late Monday night. Their scheduled 12-round bout will headline a Lemino/ESPN+ main event from Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
Inoue is The Ring’s No. 2-rated pound-for-pound entrant and the reigning Fighter of the Year.
“He’s a phenomenon,” Arum told The Ring Friday afternoon. “He’s unbelievable. I think he will go down in history as one of the all-time greats. I’ve never seen any guy that (has the) stature of Inoue, with the kind of punching power that he has. He’s a good boxer, but he’s a tremendous puncher. And it’s something special to see. And you see what kind of character he has. In his last fight, he got knocked down in the first round, gets up, and destroys his opponent.”
Top Rank announced the event as for the undisputed championship. However, the WBA has yet to weigh in on his previously ordered mandatory title defense versus Murodjon Akhmadaliev.
Inoue (27-0, 24 knockouts) is coming off a sixth-round knockout of Tijuana’s Luis Nery on May 6 at the famed Tokyo Dome. It came with a brief scare, as Inoue was floored in the opening round. The 31-year-old from Yokohama recovered and floored Nery (35-2, 27 KOs) three times before he earned the stoppage win.
In his previous fight on December 26, Inoue fully unified the 122-pound division after a tenth-round knockout of the Philippines’ Marlon Tapales.
The 31-year-old also notched an knockout win over Stephen Fulton last July 25. The back-to-back wins over unified 122-pound titlists was enough to secure Fighter of the Year honors for ‘The Monster.’
Inoue was also a Ring Magazine and undisputed champion at 118 pounds. He previously won world title belts at 108 and 115 pounds.
Since a close and competitive decision win over former world junior bantamweight and bantamweight world titleholder Nonito Donaire in December 2019, Inoue has stopped his last eight opponents.
Aside from already accumulating a Hall of Fame resume, Arum believes Inoue can still win world title belts and will join the list of a select few who are considered the best ever in the sport.
“I’ve been to many Inoue fights, both in Japan and during the pandemic in the United States,” said Arum, who promoted his first fight card in March 1966. “I enjoy watching him fight. I think he’s a real, real sensation. I mean, something, probably maybe, the best fighter of our era. I don’t want to get into the argument if he’s better than Floyd (Mayweather), or is he better than (Manny) Pacquiao. But he’s certainly up there with all of them.”
Mayweather and Pacquiao were promoted by Top Rank.
Doheny (26-4, 20 KOs), who is originally from Portlaois, Ireland and now resides in Bondi Junction, Australia, also fought on the same May 6 card Inoue fought on, stopping unbeaten Bryl Bayogos in round four. In his previous fight on October 31, Doheny stopped another unbeaten fighter, Japhethlee Llamido, in the opening round.
The 37-year-old southpaw has won his last three fights since losing to contender Sam Goodson on March 12 of last year.
Doheny was a former IBF world titleholder at 122 pounds, losing the belt in a unification world title fight to then-WBA world junior featherweight Danny Roman in April 2019.
Also on the show:
The card will be co-promoted by Ohashi Promotions and Top Rank.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at santio89@yahoo.com
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