Notebook: Inoue set for Doheny defense, but does featherweight call?
Notebook: Inoue set for Doheny defense, but does featherweight call?
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While there has been much speculation about when Naoya Inoue will move up to the featherweight division in search of a title in a fifth weight class, he is not there yet.
“The Monster” is still focused on defending the undisputed junior featherweight title for the time being, including against former titlist TJ Doheny in the main event of an Ohashi Promotions card on Tuesday (ESPN+, 5:45 a.m. ET) at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan, where Inoue is a mega star.
“This is a fight that I must be very sharp for,” Inoue said in translated comments. “Even if people cannot be very excited about me fighting TJ Doheny following the Tokyo Dome fight (against Luis Nery in May), I will take care of it very carefully. Doheny has scored three KOs in a row, including against my sparring partners Kazuki Nakajima and Japhethlee Llamido.
“I know in my mind what I need to do. Doheny is a fighter who doesn’t want to win by decision. That’s why I have to be careful.”
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