One of many sport’s easiest is about for his second struggle of the 12 months.
4-division and reigning undisputed 122-pound king Naoya Inoue will face TJ Doheny on September 3, Prime Rank formally introduced late Monday evening. Their scheduled 12-round bout will headline a Lemino/ESPN+ essential occasion from Ariake Area in Tokyo, Japan.
Inoue is The Ring’s No. 2-rated pound-for-pound entrant and the reigning Fighter of the Yr.
“He’s a phenomenon,” Arum advised The Ring Friday afternoon. “He’s unbelievable. I feel he’ll go down in historical past as one of many all-time greats. I’ve by no means seen any man that (has the) stature of Inoue, with the form of punching energy that he has. He’s a superb boxer, however he’s an incredible puncher. And it’s one thing particular to see. And also you see what sort of character he has. In his final struggle, he bought knocked down within the first spherical, will get up, and destroys his opponent.”
Prime Rank introduced the occasion as for the undisputed championship. Nonetheless, the WBA has but to weigh in on his beforehand ordered necessary title protection versus Murodjon Akhmadaliev.
Inoue (27-0, 24 knockouts) is coming off a sixth-round knockout of Tijuana’s Luis Nery on Might 6 on the famed Tokyo Dome. It got here with a short scare, as Inoue was floored within the opening spherical. The 31-year-old from Yokohama recovered and floored Nery (35-2, 27 KOs) 3 times earlier than he earned the stoppage win.
In his earlier struggle on December 26, Inoue absolutely unified the 122-pound division after a tenth-round knockout of the Philippines’ Marlon Tapales.
The 31-year-old additionally notched an knockout win over Stephen Fulton final July 25. The back-to-back wins over unified 122-pound titlists was sufficient to safe Fighter of the Yr honors for ‘The Monster.’
Inoue was additionally a Ring Journal and undisputed champion at 118 kilos. He beforehand received world title belts at 108 and 115 kilos.
Since a detailed and aggressive choice win over former world junior bantamweight and bantamweight world titleholder Nonito Donaire in December 2019, Inoue has stopped his final eight opponents.
Other than already accumulating a Corridor of Fame resume, Arum believes Inoue can nonetheless win world title belts and can be part of the checklist of a choose few who’re thought of the perfect ever within the sport.
“I’ve been to many Inoue fights, each in Japan and in the course of the pandemic in america,” mentioned Arum, who promoted his first struggle card in March 1966. “I take pleasure in watching him struggle. I feel he’s an actual, actual sensation. I imply, one thing, in all probability possibly, the perfect fighter of our period. I don’t wish to get into the argument if he’s higher than Floyd (Mayweather), or is he higher than (Manny) Pacquiao. However he’s definitely up there with all of them.”
Mayweather and Pacquiao have been promoted by Prime Rank.
Doheny (26-4, 20 KOs), who’s initially from Portlaois, Eire and now resides in Bondi Junction, Australia, additionally fought on the identical Might 6 card Inoue fought on, stopping unbeaten Bryl Bayogos in spherical 4. In his earlier struggle on October 31, Doheny stopped one other unbeaten fighter, Japhethlee Llamido, within the opening spherical.
The 37-year-old southpaw has received his final three fights since dropping to contender Sam Goodson on March 12 of final 12 months.
Doheny was a former IBF world titleholder at 122 kilos, dropping the belt in a unification world title struggle to then-WBA world junior featherweight Danny Roman in April 2019.
Additionally on the present:
- Yoshiki Takei (9-0, 8 KOs) will defend his WBO world bantamweight title in opposition to Daigo Higa (21-2-1, 9 KOs) in an all-Japan showdown.
- Ismael Barroso (25-4-2, 23 KOs)—a Venezuelan primarily based in Miami—will defend his interim WBA 140-pound title versus Japan’s Andy Hiraoka (23-0, 18 KOs).
The cardboard can be co-promoted by Ohashi Promotions and Prime Rank.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has lined boxing in Southern California and overseas since 2000. Francisco additionally covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He might be reached at [email protected]
