Boxing: Undisputed champ Naoya Inoue not underestimating Doheny

YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) — Three days before he puts his undisputed super bantamweight title on the line, Japan’s Naoya Inoue said Saturday that his opponent, Ireland’s TJ Doheny, poses a challenge.

“I am not underestimating his ability,” the 31-year-old Inoue told a press conference in reference to the 37-year-old he will face at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena.

“I don’t think this is going to be an easy fight like everyone seems to be saying.”

Inoue is the second undisputed champion in more than one weight class in boxing’s four-belt era. This will be his second defense of all four super bantamweight titles following his technical knockout of Luis Nery in May.

Promoter Bob Arum said Inoue, who is 27-0 with 24 knockouts, will have one more fight in Japan this year and hoped to see him box in the United States next year.

Arum compared Inoue to another Japanese superstar, slugging pitcher Shohei Ohtani, and said that if Inoue fights in the United States, Japanese people will flock to see him the way they are drawn to Ohtani’s games.

Inoue, however, asserted that his focus is on the contest at hand.

“I take pride in defending my four championship belts, and I want to fight a bout that is up to my personal standards,” he said.