Ball breaks down Doheny for TKO, retains WBA featherweight title
Dominates in hometown, stays on track for possible Inoue bout
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Nick Ball wore down and stopped game TJ Doheny in the 10th round to retain the WBA featherweight title in the main event of the Queensberry Promotions card on Saturday at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England.
Not only did Ball retain his 126-pound belt before a hometown crowd, he also moved a step closer to a potential fight at the end of the year against Japanese pound-for-pound superstar and undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
First, however, was the assignment against Doheny, a former IBF junior featherweight titlist, who was moving up in weight and coming off the only knockout loss his career, a seventh-round injury stoppage due to a back/hip problem when challenging Inoue for his undisputed crown in September.
Doheny was game all the way and had some fine moments outboxing and also landing solid shots against the aggressive Ball in the early rounds.