Naoya Inoue defended his undisputed super bantamweight title with a seventh-round TKO victory over TJ Doheny in a fight that had an unexpected ending and some compelling boxing ahead.

Inoue (28-0, 25 KO) was indeed stopped and was increasingly in control of the fight, but the stoppage came due to a lower back or leg injury to Doheny (26-5, 20 KO), whose shrewd, veteran-style boxing provided Inoue has decent looks, if not what you might call “fitting.”

Inoue seemed to be gaining a lot of momentum with his body work in the last few rounds before being stopped 16 seconds into the seventh round, and the outcome was looking less and less in doubt, but you don’t like to see any fighter get stopped for such a tiny thing that could happen there just happen.

To the 37-year-old Doheny’s credit, the Irish-Australian midfielder came in with a legitimate plan and had some success against the 31-year-old Inoue, even if it never looked like he would win the fight in the long run.

We’ll now wait to see what’s next for Inoue, who could potentially fight on Recent Year’s Eve, which is always a massive fight date in Japan, and which Inoue hasn’t actually fought, although he has had several December fights in his career, including the last three years.

With the main support, Yoshiki Takei (10-0, 8 KO) defended his WBO bantamweight title, leaving the ring – at least officially – to survive a great challenge from Daigo Higa (21-3-1, 19 KO) for 12 rounds.

Takei won a fantastic, action-packed fight with scores of 114-113, 114-113 and 115-112, which is a completely fair score, but it was one hell of a test for the 28-year-old titleholder as Higa looked so much like the guy he had be ahead of a tough series of five fights, in which he achieved a record of 2-2-1 in the 2018/21 season.

As Naoya Inoue prepares to defend his super bantamweight titles against TJ Doheny at Ariake Arena tomorrow, he says Heavenly sports that he’s training harder than ever in his career. Inoue says he doesn’t think Doheny is a player who can just go the distance, so he thinks he will have to be on the alert at all times.

And even though Inoue is considered by many to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, he adds that he still hasn’t reached the top and says he’s still growing into the best version of himself.

“I don’t think I’m a finished product yet. There’s still a bit ahead of me. I know I can still become a better fighter. I hope the fans are looking forward to it too,” he said. To win this fight, I have to concentrate and knock him out. That’s the only thing I keep in mind when preparing for this fight. This is what I imagine now.”

Most fight fans who know Inoue will pick him as the clear favorite to dominate the upcoming fight, but Inoue and his team are taking a much more humble approach and say they rate Doheny as a powerful former champion who they don’t expect to be impressed by the reputation Inoue.

We will have live coverage of the morning fight, which will stream live on ESPN+ starting at 5:45 a.m. ET, so join us here at BLH for all the festivities and updates.

Results:

Diego Pacheco and Maciej Sulecki meet tonight in Carson, California for the super middleweight main event on DAZN, which starts at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Pacheco (21-0, 17 KO) is a 23-year-old who is moving quickly through his development process against gatekeepers and prospect vets. This is his ninth fight in 27 months, and in the build-up he said he hopes his next fight will be against a bigger name, closer to the 168-pound top. rankings.

Before that happens, he will have to defeat Sulecki (32-2, 12 KO), a tough economic class opponent of Sergei Derevyanchenko. Sulecki’s only losses were to Danny Jacobs and Demetrius Andrade, and he also defeated some good but not world-class fighters such as Gabe Rosado, Hugo Centeno and Jack Culcay. Sulecki also mentions Derevychenko because he is a more natural middleweight, although he has not yet made 160 pounds. limit within five years.

In support we will see the US debut of the electrifying super featherweight Eduardo Nunez (26-1, 26 KO), who in February scored his 27th knockout victory over Shavkat Rakhimov, but did so on a show hosted by a widely disgraced and corrupt (even for very low standards of this sport!) IBA, so the rest of boxing largely does not count it.

Elsewhere on the card are Cheavon Clarke (9-0, 7 KO) vs. Efetobor Apochi (12-2, 12 KO) and Adelaida Ruiz (16-0-1, 8 KO) and Ginny Fuchs (3-0, 1 KO) for the interim WBC super flyweight title.

We’ll be going live tonight in the comments below, so join us at 7:30 PM ET!

Main card (DAZN, 7:30 p.m. ET)

• Diego Pacheco (21-0, 17 KO) vs Maciej Sulecki (32-2, 12 KO), super middleweight, 12 rounds
• Eduardo Nunez (26-1, 26 KO) vs. Miguel Marriaga (31-7, 26 KO), super featherweight, 10 rounds
• Arturo Cardenas (14-0-1, 8 KO) vs. Jesus Arechiga (21-1, 15 KO), super bantamweight, 10 rounds
• Cheavon Clarke (9-0, 7 KO) vs. Efetobor Apochi (12-2, 12 KO), cruiserweight, 10 rounds
• Adelaida Ruiz (16-0-1, 8 KO) vs. Ginny Fuchs (3-0, 1 KO), super flyweight, 10 rounds