Naoya Inoue vs TJ Doheny fight prediction, odds, start time, undercard, preview, expert picks, live stream
Naoya Inoue, widely considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in boxing, will return to action on Tuesday when he defends his undisputed junior featherweight title against TJ Doheny at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. The bout will be Inoue’s second defense as undisputed champion at 122 pounds and his first since stopping Luis Nery in May.
Junior featherweight is the fourth division in which Inoue has won world championship gold, it is also the second division where Inoue has simultaneously won all four recognized world championships and become undisputed. Inoue’s first undisputed run came at bantamweight, where he last defeated Paul Butler to add the WBO title to the WBC, WBA and IBF belts he already held.
Any questions about how Inoue would handle moving up to junior featherweight were immediately answered when he defeated Stephen Fulton in his first fight in this weight class to capture the WBC and WBO championships in July 2023. Fulton was seen as a marginal contender for the top 10 pound-for-pound lists, but was overwhelmed by Inoue’s relentless onslaught.
Inoue then defeated Marlon Tapales to win the IBF and WBA titles and become the undisputed champion. He made the first defense of his undisputed status against Luis Nery in May. Nery became the first man to defeat Inoue, but Inoue dominated the fight and was knocked out in the sixth round.
Doheny is a former IBF champion at 122 pounds and a familiar name among Japanese boxing fans. The Irish fighter won his only world championship from Ryosuke Iwasa in Tokyo in 2018 and retained the title against Ryohei Takahashi before losing the title to Daniel Roman in 2019.
The loss to Roman marked the start of a 2-4 streak for Doheny, who won the first 21 bouts of his professional career. Since that difficult period, Doheny has won three in a row, all three in Tokyo, making him an attractive option for Inoue.
The back-to-back bouts in Tokyo also explain why Inoue and his team took the low-risk fight with Doheny instead of facing Murodjon Akhmadaliev, whom the WBA has already ordered Inoue to face. Despite not complying with the WBA’s order, Inoue has not faced any disciplinary action and will defend his WBA title along with three others on Tuesday.
The undercard features some intriguing bouts, with WBO bantamweight champion Yoshiki Takei defending his title against former flyweight champion Daigo Higa and interim WBA super lightweight champion Ismael Barroso taking on Andy Hiraoka.
Inoue vs. Doheny fight card, odds
- Naoya Inoue (c) -5000 vs. TJ Doheny +1700, Undisputed Junior Featherweight Title
- Yoshiki Takei (c) -400 vs. Daigo Higa +295, WBO bantamweight title
- Ismael Barroso (IC) vs. Andy Hiraoka, WBA interim junior welterweight title
- Jin Sasaki vs. Kamil Balla, welterweight
- Toshiki Shimomachi vs. Ryuya Tsugawa, junior featherweight
Viewing Information
date: 3 September | Start time: 5:45 PM ET (Main Card)
Place: Ariake Arena — Tokyo
TV Channels: ESPN+
Prediction
Boxing may be an unpredictable sport, but there may be no more predictable sport than Inoue vs. Doheny. That’s why Inoue is a -5000 favorite in this fight. Doheny has lost to far worse fighters than Inoue, and Inoue has not only never lost, but he has also scored a stoppage in 24 of his 27 professional fights, many of which were against better fighters than Doheny.
This fight was made because Doheny has done enough work to become a credible opponent while also being a well-known name in Japan. This would be a good day for him, but Inoue could potentially end the fight the moment he feels like putting his foot on the gas. Pick: Naoya Inoue via KO3
