Naoya Inoue has defended his undisputed super-bantamweight titles with a stoppage victory over TJ Doheny, with an injury for the Irish fighter halting the contest in the seventh round.
‘The Monster’ extended his flawless record to 28-0 after victory in Koto-Ku, Japan on Tuesday afternoon.
In another devastating display of power, the four-weight world champion sought to break down the experienced and savvy Doheny, landing vicious shots at will as he looked for the stoppage win.
Doheny, 37, stood firm, however, landing shots of his own as he stuck to a clear game plan to take the fight the distance.
But at the start of the seventh round and having absorbed some shuddering shots to the body, Doheny pulled away clutching his back with the fight quickly waved off in an anti-climatic conclusion.
Doheny was helped out of the ring by his trainer after the unfortunate end to the contest.
I think it was an accumulation of shots [that ended the fights],’ Inoue said in his post-fight interview.
‘Tonight, I really wanted to go through the fight one round at a time. I wanted to slow down, hand my opponent damage.
‘This fight didn’t end in the way we expected, but if you’re going to have a career like this, [maybe this can be useful].
‘I am still improving. I want to acknowledge how TJ Doheny brought the fight tonight, and I want to celebrate his career.’
Inoue has left a trail of devastation in his wake in becoming one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet. At 31, he has won world titles in four different weight classes, moving up to super-bantamweight last year and marking it with a sublime performance over Stephen Fulton to claim the WBO and WBC belts.
He added the IBF and WBA belts to his collection with a knockout victory over Marlon Tapales on Boxing Day before climbing off the canvas to flatten Luis Nery earlier this year in May.
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