Inoue vs. Doheny

Naoya Inoue vs. TJ Doheny: Inoue wins by TKO in the 7th round.

Yoshiki Takei vs. Daigo Higa: Takei wins by UD.

Andy Hiraoka vs. Ismael Barroso: Hiraoka wins by TKO in the 9th round.

Jin Sasaki vs. Qamil Balla: Sasaki wins by TKO in the 7th round.

Toshiki Shimomachi vs. Ryuya Tsugawa: Shimomachi wins by UD.

Japanese boxing star Naoya Inoue is set to defend his undisputed junior featherweight championship against TJ Doheny in Tokyo. Inoue, ranked No. 3 pound-for-pound by ESPN, will make his second defense of the WBA, WBO, IBF, and WBC titles at 122 pounds. The fight will be available to stream on ESPN+ in the U.S. in the morning.

The 31-year-old Inoue is coming off a sixth-round TKO victory over Luis Nery in May, where nearly 60,000 fans filled the Tokyo Dome to watch the future Hall of Famer in action. This will mark Inoue's sixth consecutive fight in Japan, with his last bout outside his home country being a victory in Las Vegas in June 2021.

Inoue was knocked down for the first time in his career in the first round against Nery but rallied to secure a dominant win. The upcoming fight against Doheny will be Inoue's fourth at 122 pounds, following his wins over Stephen Fulton, Marlon Tapales, and Nery.

Watch Inoue vs. Nery highlights: Watch

TJ Doheny, a 37-year-old Irishman residing in Australia, will enter the ring as a significant underdog against Inoue. Doheny has won three consecutive fights in Japan since losing a decision to contender Sam Goodman. Despite being an underdog in two of those bouts, Doheny managed to secure victories. He is a former bantamweight titleholder, with both of his title wins coming against Japanese fighters, Ryosuke Iwasa and Ryohei Takahashi.

Watch Doheny vs. Conlan highlights: Watch

Doheny lost his bantamweight title in a unification bout to Daniel Roman in April 2019 and also faced defeat against Michael Conlan in August 2021. Inoue, meanwhile, has mandatory defenses lined up against Australia’s Goodman, who recently broke his hand in a victory, and Murodjon Akhmadaliev.

This special early morning broadcast will also include WBO bantamweight world champion Yoshiki Takei (9-0, 8 KOs) defending his belt against former flyweight world champion Daigo Higa (21-2-1, 19 KOs).

Moreover, Venezuelan puncher Ismael Barroso (25-4-2, 23 KOs) will defend his interim junior welterweight world title versus rising Japanese contender Andy Hiraoka (23-0, 18 KOs).

Main card:

▪️Naoya Inoue vs. TJ Doheny, 12 rounds, for the IBF, WBA Super, WBC, and WBO World super bantamweight titles ▪️Yoshiki Takei vs. Daigo Higa, 12 rounds, for the WBO World bantamweight title ▪️Ismael Barroso vs. Andy Hiraoka, 12 rounds, for Barroso’s interim WBA super lightweight title ▪️Jin Sasaki vs. Qamil Balla, 12 rounds, for the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation welterweight title and WBO Asia Pacific welterweight title ▪️Toshiki Shimomachi vs. Ryuya Tsugawa, 10 rounds, for the Japan Boxing Commission Japanese super bantamweight title

Watch the full weigh-in here: Watch