A recent and quite regular visitor to Japan, Irish warrior TJ Doheny, and his supporters feel the five good wins he scored while fighting in Japan will hold Doheny in good stead on Tuesday, when he, of course, takes on the ultimate challenge and faces “Monster ” Naoya Inoue.
The stakes could not be higher, with all four super bantamweight belts up for grabs. But also, the odds could not be seen as being any higher for firm underdog Doheny to overcome.
Inoue, at the peak of his terrifying powers (we think, anyway, Inoue saying a few days ago how he feels he can still improve as a fighter), is widely expected to do away with Doheny, even if Doheny has never been stopped. However, in his last outing, against another big outsider, Luis Nery, Inoue was knocked down for the first time in his career. The left hook knockdown Nery scored caused genuine shock and open mouths.
Of course, Inoue, showing the relaxed, calm presence of mind the great ones show, got back up and soon dropped Nery in a returning favor. Inoue later battered his challenger for the stoppage win.
Some people – such as Todd DuBoef of Top Rank – feel it will serve Doheny well if he “jumps on Inoue” early, as Nery did. Sure, Nery was soon made to pay for what he did to cause the brief sensation, but the knockdown Inoue suffered at least showed that he was human after all.
DuBoef, who says Doheny “gives everybody problems” and is a fighter he looks at as a “veteran of the game” who is seriously tough, feels the Australian-based southpaw should go at Inoue and let him know what he’s all about “the way Nery did.”
But if Doheny does come out of the blocks at a pace, will it work for him, or will it backfire? Again, Nery was made to pay, and maybe Doheny will be, too, if he comes out fast. Then again, what other approach should Doheny take? Can Doheny outbox Inoue? Heck, can any 122-pounder in the world outbox Inoue?
One superb operator who is also currently lighting up boxing in Japan, Junto Nakatani, might be the man to do it. And like plenty of us, DuBoef wants to see this potential all-Japanese mega-fight happen one day.
Nakatani, the WBC bantamweight champ, fights again in October, and it is possible that, provided Inoue and Nakatani both win their upcoming respective fights, the two could collide next year. DuBoef spoke to Sky Sports about how Inoue and Nakatani are “like rock stars” in Japan and that it would be special to match the two together.
Who wins if Inoue and Nakatani do get it on? Out of respect, we must first wait and see how Inoue gets on with Doheny, as we must wait and see how Nakatani gets on with Tasana Salapet next month. Both men are big, big favorites, but pretty much anything can happen in pro boxing.
The same thing could be said of a fight between Inoue and Nakatani.
