TOKYO: Japanese boxer Naoya Inoue, known as “The Monster,” will defend his super bantamweight world title against Ireland's TJ Doheny at Ariake Arena in Tokyo in September, he announced on Tuesday.
The unbeaten Inoue beat Mexico's Luis Nery in front of 55,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome in his last bout in May.
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The bout headlined the first boxing card held at the venue since February 1990, when James “Buster” Douglas, a 42-1 underdog, knocked out unbeaten heavyweight champion Mike Tyson to pull off one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport.
“Fighting at the Tokyo Dome was a special match in my career as a boxer and I feel I have surpassed that performance in my next fight,” Inoue told reporters.
The 31-year-old Inoue, who boasts a 27-0 record (24 KOs), will have a commanding edge over Doheny (26-4, 20 KOs), who held the IBF super bantamweight world title from 2018-2019.
The 37-year-old Irishman last fought, beating Philippines' Brill Bayagos on Inoue's undercard at the Tokyo Dome.
“Doheny has been playing really well lately, so I don't want to take my eye off the ball,” Inoue said.
“He's knocked out boxers I've sparred with and he can perform well in a fight.”
Inoue again displayed his blistering power against Nery in his first title defense since becoming super bantamweight world champion last December.
But he had to bounce back from being taken down by the Mexican in the opening round, suffering the first knockdown of his career.
Inoue got up and took him down in the next round, then took him to the mat again in the fifth and finished him off with a right hook in the sixth.
Inoue is just the second fighter to become undisputed world champion in two different weight classes since the four-division era began in 2004. The first was American Terence Crawford.
Yoshiki Takei will defend his bantamweight world title against fellow Japanese boxer Daigo Higa on the undercard.
Takei defeated Australia's Jason Moloney in May to win the WBO belt.
