BOXING/ Inoue remains undisputed world super-bantam champ after Doheny quits with injury

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Japanese champion Naoya Inoue, right, and Irish challenger TJ Doheny, left, fight during the first round of a boxing match for the unified WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO super bantamweight world titles in Tokyo, Sept. 3, 2024. (AP Photo)

Japanese boxing superstar Naoya Inoue remained the undisputed world super-bantamweight champion when Irish challenger TJ Doheny dropped to his knee and quit in the seventh round because of an apparent back injury on Tuesday.

Doheny complained of a “twinge” after walking back to his corner gingerly. Before then, he was getting pummeled by Inoue, who celebrated his technical knockout — for a 28th successive win — in muted fashion in Tokyo.

Inoue’s pressure and relentless body work started getting its rewards from the sixth round, and Doheny’s face was marked by the end of the fight. The 37-year-old challenger wound up limping away from the ring, propped up on both sides by his team.

“This fight didn’t end how we expected,” Inoue said through a translator, “but fighting a long career like this, this is a night we might have.

“I want to celebrate,” Inoue added, “how TJ Doheny brought the fight into this ring.”

This was the 31-year-old Inoue’s 23rd world title fight since his first in 2014, and seventh in a row in Japan.

His promoter, Bob Arum, said Inoue will be defending his titles again in Tokyo at the end of the year and then will fight in Las Vegas.

Inoue, a four-division world champion in light-flyweight, super-flyweight, bantamweight and now super-bantamweight, didn’t have it all his own way against Doheny, who made the bout awkward with his sharp movements and experience.

Doheny might even have won the third round after a powerful punch to the body and then a left-right combination to Inoue’s head.

But in round four, he was getting trapped on the ropes and picked off by Inoue, who slowly broke Doheny down.

The pressure told in the sixth when Inoue’s body work and an overhead right hurt Doheny, who — in the final seconds of the round — appeared to clutch the bottom of his back.

The fight was over 16 seconds into the seventh when Doheny wriggled free from a flurry of punches before saying he couldn’t continue. The Irishman left the ring in clear pain and without conducting an interview.

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