Inoue happy with performance against Doheny, expects to be back out in December
Yesterday we saw undisputed Super Bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue (28-0, 25) [井上尚弥] retain his throne as he stopped gutsy Australian challenger TJ Doheny (26-5, 19), who suffered an unfortunate injury and has to retire in round 7. Today, following that win, Inoue took part in a press conference talking about the performance and future plans.
Talking about the performance, which some criticised for being less swashbuckling than we’d typically see from Inoue, he explained "As per the strategy set by my camp, I improved after my mistake in the first round at the Tokyo Dome and was able to box carefully and calmly. I watched the video again and it felt better than it did when I was doing it." This was pretty much echoed by trainer, and father, Shingo Inoue, who also spoke at the event. Shingo stated "I think he did it very carefully, just as instructed, and although it ended up that way, he was using body shots from the start and the damage accumulated and it ended up like that. Doheny was aiming for the left, and although he didn't hit it perfectly, he was coming at good times and was scary until the end. However, he fought carefully and without getting nervous, and I thought it was a good match."
It seemed, very much, like Inoue was boxing to orders at times, rather than being aggressive. He and his father, and promoter Hideyuki Ohashi, had all spoken about Doheny being dangerous pre-fight and it seemed like their game plan was very much about being cautious, not taking early risks, but instead seeing out any early ambition of Doheny and then pressing his foot on the gas as the fight went on. Something we did see in round 6.
Regarding Ohashi, he stated "Although the game ended in a disappointing way, we put pressure on them from the first round and it was close to 100 points,", explaining he gave Inoue close to a 100 out of 100 score for the performance.
After the bout Bob Arum revealed some plans to face Australian Sam Goodman (19-0, 8) on Christmas Eve, interestingly this bout wasn’t confirmed at the press conference. It was confirmed that Inoue would be back in December, though no date was given, and that Tokyo was the most likely venue, though Hokkaido has also been linked to Inoue’s next bout. And whilst Goodman is certainly one of the names most likely to face Inoue Uzbekistani fighter Murodjon Akhmadaliev (12-1, 9) [Ахмадалиев, Муроджон Кахарович] was also mentioned, with Inoue stating "I think of Goodman as a very orthodox fighter. As for Ahmadaliev (Uzbekistan), I've only seen his fight against Tapales, so I can't say for sure. Once it's decided, I'll think about it carefully."
Inoue, who recorded his 23rd win in a world title fight and set a new Japanese record, looked completely unmarked at the press conference, and is expected to return to the gym in about 2 week after a short rest following his win over Doheny.
Talking about the performance, which some criticised for being less swashbuckling than we’d typically see from Inoue, he explained "As per the strategy set by my camp, I improved after my mistake in the first round at the Tokyo Dome and was able to box carefully and calmly. I watched the video again and it felt better than it did when I was doing it." This was pretty much echoed by trainer, and father, Shingo Inoue, who also spoke at the event. Shingo stated "I think he did it very carefully, just as instructed, and although it ended up that way, he was using body shots from the start and the damage accumulated and it ended up like that. Doheny was aiming for the left, and although he didn't hit it perfectly, he was coming at good times and was scary until the end. However, he fought carefully and without getting nervous, and I thought it was a good match."
It seemed, very much, like Inoue was boxing to orders at times, rather than being aggressive. He and his father, and promoter Hideyuki Ohashi, had all spoken about Doheny being dangerous pre-fight and it seemed like their game plan was very much about being cautious, not taking early risks, but instead seeing out any early ambition of Doheny and then pressing his foot on the gas as the fight went on. Something we did see in round 6.
Regarding Ohashi, he stated "Although the game ended in a disappointing way, we put pressure on them from the first round and it was close to 100 points,", explaining he gave Inoue close to a 100 out of 100 score for the performance.
After the bout Bob Arum revealed some plans to face Australian Sam Goodman (19-0, 8) on Christmas Eve, interestingly this bout wasn’t confirmed at the press conference. It was confirmed that Inoue would be back in December, though no date was given, and that Tokyo was the most likely venue, though Hokkaido has also been linked to Inoue’s next bout. And whilst Goodman is certainly one of the names most likely to face Inoue Uzbekistani fighter Murodjon Akhmadaliev (12-1, 9) [Ахмадалиев, Муроджон Кахарович] was also mentioned, with Inoue stating "I think of Goodman as a very orthodox fighter. As for Ahmadaliev (Uzbekistan), I've only seen his fight against Tapales, so I can't say for sure. Once it's decided, I'll think about it carefully."
Inoue, who recorded his 23rd win in a world title fight and set a new Japanese record, looked completely unmarked at the press conference, and is expected to return to the gym in about 2 week after a short rest following his win over Doheny.