TV Picks of the Week: ‘The Monster’ Naoya Inoue to feed on TJ Doheny?

Pick it: Naoya Inoue-TJ Doheny

When to watch: Tuesday, September 3 at 5:45 a.m. Eastern Time (10:45 a.m. BST)

How to watch: ESPN+

Why to watch: Boxing is already a brutal enough sport. We as boxing fans – well, we as people in general – can be particularly heartless.

It goes back millennia. Crowds filled stadiums to joyously watch gladiators try to fend off – before ultimately getting fed to – the lions. Today, we’ll watch some horror movie characters succumb to their circumstances while the rare few survive.

This coming Tuesday, we will tune in early in the morning for boxing’s version – a potential ritual sacrifice; a squash match airing from Ariake Arena in Tokyo. TJ Doheny will seek to upset the odds, but he is in with a monster, or rather “The Monster,” in Naoya Inoue.

Inoue, a 31-year-old from Yokohama, Japan, is the undisputed champion at 122 pounds. He was previously the undisputed champion at 118 pounds, and a titleholder at 115 pounds and 108 pounds as well. He is undefeated, pound-for-pound one of the best in the world. Doheny is – well, not.

Inoue (27-0, 24 KOs) is coming off another one of his impressive campaigns, moving up to the junior featherweight division in July 2023 to make surprisingly easy work of the unified titleholder Stephen Fulton. Inoue then knocked out Marlon Tapales in December to capture the other two major world titles in the division, and he returned in May to dispatch one of the top remaining contenders, Luis Nery, via sixth-round technical knockout.

The remaining names at 122 pounds are Murodjon Akhmadaliev – who narrowly lost his titles to Tapales in 2023 – John Riel Casimero and up-and-comers such as Liam Davies, Sam Goodman and Elijah Pierce. Given what Inoue has done of late, he can be forgiven for what is seen as an easier outing – a way to keep busy before he resumes against the rest.

Doheny (26-4, 20 KOs) isn’t bad at all. He’s ranked No. 7 in the weight class by The Ring and No. 10 by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board. But the 37 year old – who is originally from Ireland and now calls Australia home – is not expected to pose a significant challenge to Inoue.

Doheny was once a titleholder in this weight class – holding the IBF belt for eight months from August 2018, when he outpointed Ryosuke Iwasa, to April 2019, when he dropped a majority decision to Daniel Roman. More setbacks came – including back-to-back losses at featherweight against Ionut Baluta and Michael Conlan. And in March 2023, Doheny returned to 122 pounds and lost a wide decision to Goodman.

Since then, Doheny’s at least put together a few decent wins – all early nights, all in Japan. He defeated the 14-1-1 Kazuki Nakajima in four rounds, the 11-0 Japhethlee Llamido in one, and, on the undercard of Inoue-Nery, the 7-0-1 Bryl Bayogos in four.

“TJ is a very deserving opponent,” Doheny’s manager, Sean Gibbons, recently told BoxingScene. “He has a very storied history in Japan and he peaked at the right time. I think he is going to surprise people. Inoue has never really been hit, because he’s that good. TJ brings a lot to the table, and he has to try to mug him and rough him up, because he’s not going to outbox him. He has nothing to lose. He’ll come in relaxed and comfortable.”

The gladiator will either be the winner, or he’ll be dinner. Either way, to quote the Russell Crowe movie – are we not entertained?

The broadcast also includes another title fight, with Yoshiki Takei making the first defense of his WBO bantamweight belt against Daigo Higa.

Takei, 28, is 9-0 (8 KOs). He picked up the title in May with a unanimous decision over Jason Moloney.

Higa, 29, is 21-2-1 (19 KOs). He was previously a flyweight titleholder, capturing the vacant WBC belt with a TKO of Juan Hernandez Navarrete in May 2017. Higa made two successful defenses, then came in overweight for a fight in April 2018 with Cristofer Rosales, who went on to dispatch Higa in the ninth round. Higa subsequently moved up to the 118-pound division. He suffered his second defeat in 2021, when outpointed by Ryosuke Nishida, who’s since won the IBF title. Higa has won four in a row since.

This fight is worth watching, especially given the intrigue at bantamweight. All four world titleholders are from Japan – plus Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez is in the division looking to make one last run, Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez is one division below, and Inoue is of course one division above.

More fights to watch

Thursday, Sept. 5: Arthur Biyarslanov-Tamas Kiliti (ESPN+ and Punching Grace)

The broadcast begins at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Punching Grace and 9 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN+. The undercard will also air on TVA Sports from 6:30-9:30 p.m.

Biyarslanov is an unbeaten junior welterweight prospect from Russia and now fighting out of Canada. The 29-year-old is 15-0 (13 KOs) and making his third appearance of 2024. He stopped the 33-13-2 Cristian Palma in three rounds in March and the 14-5 Elias Mauricio Haedo in four rounds in June.

Kiliti is a late replacement opponent announced a few days before the fight. Kiliti, a 29-year-old from Hungary, is 10-0 (6 KOs). He’s most recently fought at lightweight and so will be stepping up in weight to face Biyarslanov. Kiliti’s last win was in May – a close decision victory over the 20-14-1 Miguel Cesario Antin. Kiliti steps in for Marcos Villasana – a 33-year-old from Acapulco, Mexico – who the promoter said had to pull out due to “a logistical issue.” Villasana (28-7, 15 KOs) would’ve been fighting for the first time since November 2022.

The undercard will also feature Imam Khataev (7-0, 7 KOs) – a light heavyweight who earned a bronze medal at the 2020 Olympics – versus Ezequiel Maderna (31-12, 21 KOs), as well as Mary Spencer (8-2, 6 KOs) versus Naomi Mannes (7-2-1, 4 KOs) for the WBA interim junior middleweight title.

Friday, Sept. 6: Kevin Hayler Brown-John Bauza (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 7 p.m. Eastern Time (midnight BST).

Hayler Brown, a junior welterweight prospect from Cuba, has been fighting regularly at the Caribe Royale Orlando in Florida. The 30-year-old, who now lives in Las Vegas, is 5-0 (3 KOs). In May, Hayler Brown came off the canvas to win a split decision over Idalberto Umara.

Bauza is a 26-year-old originally from Puerto Rico and now living in North Bergen, New Jersey. He is 18-1 (8 KOs). That defeat came in February 2023, when Bauza was knocked down twice and shut out by Richardson Hitchins. After nearly 14 months away, Bauza returned in March with a first-round TKO of the 12-4-2 Willmank Canonico Brito.

Friday, Sept. 6: Jose Zepeda-Ivan Redkach (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 10 p.m. Eastern Time (3 a.m. BST).

The main event at the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, California, is a fight between two junior welterweights whose careers may be coming to a close – with the winner of this bout deferring the inevitable a little longer.

Zepeda, a 35-year-old from outside of Los Angeles, is 37-5 (28 KOs). He is a former contender who’s been in three title fights – losing to Terry Flanagan, Jose Ramirez and Regis Prograis – and been triumphant in a Fight of the Year award winner against Ivan Baranchyk. Zepeda has lost three of his past four, starting with the 11th-round loss at the hands of Prograis, a wide decision loss to Richardson Hitchins in September 2023 and a fifth-round body-shot knockout loss to Dalton Smith in March.

Redkach, a 38-year-old from Ukraine now living in L.A., is 24-7-1 (19 KOs). Those losses came against Dejan Zlaticanin, Tevin Farmer, Argenis Mendez, John Molina Jr., Danny Garcia, Prograis and, most recently, in a fifth-round drubbing at the hands of Batyrzhan Jukembayev in May.

While all of their defeats have come against familiar names, both men are clearly declining. The winner may wind up as a B-side with the hopes of scoring one more upset. The loser will hopefully see the writing on the wall.

Friday, Sept. 6: Sam Noakes-Gianluca Ceglia (TNT Sports 1)

The broadcast begins at 7 p.m. BST.

The show from York Hall in London features Noakes, an undefeated lightweight prospect from Maidstone, England. The 27-year-old outpointed Yvan Mendy in April to move to 14-0 (13 KOs). 

Ceglia, a 34-year-old from Italy, is 21-4-1 (4 KOs). He has won four in a row since a decision loss to Mendy in 2022.

Saturday, Sept. 7: Thammanoon Niyomtrong-Alex Winwood (7plus)

Check your local TV schedule.

Niyomtrong – aka Knockout CP Freshmart – is the long-time WBA titleholder at 105 pounds, dating back to a victory in June 2016 over Byron Rojas. He has made 11 successful title defenses since then and is 24-0 (9 KOs). Somehow, the 33-year-old from Thailand still has the WBA belt, even though he last defended it in July 2022, when he outpointed the former titleholder Chayaphon Moonsri – aka Wanheng Menayothin

Winwood, 27, is from western Australia, which means he’ll be fighting in front of a home crowd at the HBF Arena in Joondalup. Winwood competed in the 2020/2021 Olympics, turned professional in late 2022, and is 4-0 as a professional. All but one of his fights have been above the 105-pound limit – including his last appearance, a decision in December 2023 over 20-5 Cris Ganoza. BoxingScene’s Tom Gerbasi has a good feature story about Winwood here. 

Saturday, Sept. 7: Elliot Whale-Lloyd Germain (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 2 p.m. Eastern Time (7 p.m. BST).

Whale and Germain are British welterweights headlining at the Brentwood Centre in Brentwood, England.

Whale, a 27-year-old from Sidcup, Kent, England, is 10-0 (6 KOs). In April, he knocked out the 7-1 Joseba Diaz in five rounds.

German, a 34-year-old from Cardiff, Wales, is 9-1 (1 KO). That loss came in his last fight, in January, when he was dropped three times in the third round by Conah Walker.

Saturday, Sept. 7: Kevin Walsh-Irvin Gonzalez (Swerve.TV)

The broadcast begins at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.

This is a junior lightweight fight between Walsh (13-0, 6 KOs) and Gonzalez (16-4, 12 KOs). They will form the main event at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut.

Both fighters are New Englanders. Walsh is a 31-year-old from Brockton, Massachusetts. He was last seen in May when knocking out the 15-11 Tackie Annan in two rounds. Gonzalez is a 28-year-old from Worcester. His past fight was a 24-second win in November over the 30-15-1 Rodolfo Hernandez Montoya. 

There are a few recognizable names on Gonzalez’s record – losses to Elijah Pierce (TKO3 in 2019), Toka Kahn Clary (UD10 in 2019) and Edward Vazquez (SD8 in 2020; Vazquez who would go on to challenge Joe Cordina for a junior lightweight title).

Follow David Greisman on Twitter @FightingWords2. His book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.