Naoya Inoue defends his undisputed super bantamweight title, while Irishman TJ Doheny withdraws due to injury

CNN
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Naoya Inoue successfully defended his undisputed super bantamweight title on Tuesday after TJ Doheny withdrew from their fight due to injury.

The Japanese champion dominated from the start and overwhelmed his Irish opponent with his speed and power.

And 16 seconds into the seventh round, it became too much for Doheny as he fell to his knees and eventually stopped the fight, apparently due to a back injury.

Doheny, 37, limped away from the ring, supported by members of his team on either side.

For Inoue, it cemented his status as one of boxing's dominant forces as he defended his WBA, WBO, WBC and IBF middle-class (up to 122 pounds) world titles for the second time with his 28th consecutive win.

“This fight probably didn't end the way you expected,” Inoue said afterward, according to Sky Sports. “I think it was more due to the accumulation of damage I did to him.”

“I know boxing isn't easy, so I really wanted to take it slow, take it one round at a time and hurt my opponent like that.”

Inoue is – along with Terence Crawford and Oleksandr Usyk – one of three active male boxers who are undisputed champions in two weight classes and four belts.

For the thousands who had gathered in Tokyo to see their local hero in the ring again, it was a disappointing end to the fight when Doheny stopped the proceedings prematurely.

Inoue has now won all 23 of his title fights since his first in 2014.

“You can expect more from me in the future,” said the 31-year-old. “Thank you to all the fans around the world for watching this fight. This is not all I have, I still have a long way to go.”

“I'm still in it and I want to especially celebrate today's fight, how TJ Doheny brought the fight into this ring and into his career.”

Inoue has fought primarily in Japan, where he is cheered on by a vocal fan base, but Bob Arum – CEO of Top Rank, Inoue's promoter – confirmed that he will soon move to the United States.

“As far as I know, he will be coming back here to Tokyo at the end of the year to defend his title again. After that, we will bring him to the USA for a big celebration in Las Vegas,” said the 92-year-old Arum in the ring afterwards.