NAOYA INOUE will defend his undisputed super-bantamweight world title against TJ Doheny this afternoon.
The Japanese superstar is a two-weight undisputed champ who holds the IBF, WBO, WBC and WBA straps at 122lbs.
Monster is unbeaten in all of his 27 bouts and has knocked out his last eight opponents.
The challenger, Doheny, is on a three-fight win streak, which secured the Irish southpaw the opportunity to fight for Inoue’s undisputed super-bantamweight world title this afternoon.
- Fight start time: 12.25pm BST (approx)
- TV channel: Sky Sports Main Event
- Live stream: NOW/Sky Sports app
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Takei vs Higa
Judges score the bout 115-112, 114-113 to your winner by unanimous decision… Yoshiki Takei!
He retains his WBO bantamweight championship with the final round proving enough to have kept his title.
Takei vs Higa – R12
Champion Takei starts on the front foot wading in with some heavy hooks and combinations, big uppercut has Higa hurt.
Another hook snaps Higa’s head back, it’s a big finish from the champ.
Fight goes the distance and this will be a really difficult bout to judge, especially with Higa scoring that knockdown.
Takei vs Higa – R11
Both fighters are cut now in the championship rounds.
It comes after Higa had Takei stunned with a big combination in the corner.
Down goes Takei after what looked to be a coming together and slip but knockdown called regardless. Huge moment for Higa
Takei vs Higa – R10
Higa still looking to press forward but you sense his time to really hurt Takei was in the first half of this fight.
Takei looks fresher in there and stops Higa in his tracks with a brilliant left hand as Higa lazily throws out a left of his own.
Higa does land a couple of strong jabs and goes down to the body while Takei is backed into the corner.
He then lands a lovely right as Takei fails to end the round as well as he started it.
Takei vs Higa – R9
Some swelling starting to form over the left eye of Higa, who’s taken a fair few of those uppercuts from Takei.
Takei goes back to boxing well in this round as he looks to discourage Higa from launching any more of those wild attacks.
Higa does land a nice left hand again as he comes forward but misses wildly with his next one.
Takei vs Higa – R8
Takei controls the first minute of the eighth round nicely, boxing off the back foot once again.
But Higa has more success in the middle of the round as he closes the gap once again, turning it into a scrap against the ropes.
Both move closer to the centre of the ring and begin to trade shots, something which definitely favours Higa.
Solid round for the challenger.
Takei vs Higa – R7
Higa lands a lovely left hand as he comes forward once again but Takei happily takes it.
Very time he opens up he gets hit with that left and his chin is pretty high in the air…
Takei lands a left of his own but it doesn’t stop Higa from trying to close the distance.
Takei vs Higa – R6
Takei is in a fight here. He looks like he’s in control at times but Higa is doing more than enough to unsettle him.
There’s certainly more urgency from the challenger.
Takei turns Higa around as the latter backs him into the corner and Takei lands a beautifully-times right hand soon after to end the round.
Takei vs Higa – R5
Higa flies out the traps again but Takei is more alert to this time, landing two uppercuts off the back foot to keep his man at bay.
Takei does take a hard left hook a few seconds later but man ages to land one of those fierce uppercuts again straight afterwards.
Takei with the slightly longer arms in there and seems to have control of this fight from his own range while Higa tries to rush in with momentary attacks.
Takei vs Higa – R4
Higa comes out for the fourth round and decides to throw caution to the wind early, backing Takei against the ropes.
Higa lands hook after hook but Takei takes them and moves the fight back to the centre of the ring.
A wild swing follows from Higa and he ends up on the canvas but the ref rules it a slip.
Takei vs Higa – R3
Takei lands a hard left hook to begin the round and Higa looks momentarily stunned.
A right hook then follows and Higa looks a little unsteady once again.
Higa tries to get in close but Takei looks pretty comfortable in the pocket and manages to fight his way off the ropes too.
Hard lead uppercut lands from Takei to end the round.
Takei vs Higa – R2
The champ is now starting to take control of the bout as we head into the fourth round.
Takei has caught Higa with multiple strikes and has had success with the right uppercut in the last round.
Higa doesn’t look to be slowing down, though, with the challenger still proving to be a difficult customer.
Takei vs Higa – R1
The first round began with both fighters feeling each other out, with Higa looking particularly dangerous.
In the final minute of the opening round, both boxers landed some powerful blows, with Higa catching the champ with a flurry of strikes.
Takei vs Higa
Round one is about to get underway in Tokyo as the unbeaten Takei takes on Higa for the WBC bantamweight title.
Up next
World title action as Yoshiki Takei defends his WBO bantamweight title against Daigo Higa.
Takei won the belt in just his ninth fight against Jason Moloney.
Credit: Alamy
What the ref
Qamil Balla fell to a brutal knockout loss after the referee jumped in just one second too late.
Sasaki came into the bout with a frightening record of 16 KOs in his 17 wins – and he notched one more against Balla.
He stopped his opponent in brutal fashion after a barrage o punches forced Balla into the corner.
Eventually, he collapsed to the ground amid the flurry of combinations with the ref just too late to step in.
Barroso vs Hiraoka
The fight is over and rightfully so.
Three knockdowns and Barroso is stopped inside nine rounds.
Very dominating performance and a huge message to the 140lb division.
Barroso vs Hiraoka
Round nine and again Barroso is down.
Big right hand drops the veteran in the corner but again Barroso makes it to his feet.
Barroso down again after a combination and he again makes it to his feet but the writing could be on the wall.
Barroso vs Hiraoka
Knockdown in round six as Barroso is floored with a right hook from Hiraoka.
It was a messy shot as Barroso flew into range and Hiraoka connected on the neck of the Venezuelan.
But Barroso’s momentum took him to the canvas and he has it all to do to turn it around with half the fight left.
In the ring now
Venezuelan veteran Ismael Barroso, 41, is heading into the fourth round of his light-welterweight title eliminator against Andy Hiraoka.
Barroso is coming off a January win over Brit Ohara Davies which came just months after his controversial loss to American Rolly Romero.
He is now battling for a chance to challenge for the WBA title held by Pitbull Cruz – who this year beat Romero.
Fight day
Japan plays host to yet another Naoya Inoue title fight.
Inoue defends his unified IBF, WBO and WBC super-bantamweight titles against TJ Doheny.
He is 27-0 with 24 KOs compared to 26-4 Doheny.
Credit: Alamy
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
