Pound-for-pound warrior Naoya Inoue successfully defended his undisputed super bantamweight championship by scoring a seventh-round TKO over former titleholder TJ Doheny, who was forced to surrender due to injury at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo on Tuesday. The official time was 0:16.
MORE: Naoya Inoue vs. TJ Doheny full card results
While Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) wasn't in full "Monster" mode, he did punish the challenger with a sustained body attack from round one. Southpaw Doheny had his moments in the third round with some nice combination punching, but his success was short-lived and the champion took over.
From rounds four through six, Inoue cranked up the offense with brutal shots to the mid-section, scoring with more regularity. At the end of the sixth, a sickening array of power punches hurt the challenger and a stoppage triumph looked assured as the Irishman limped back to his corner.
Early in the seventh, Inoue attacked again and Doheny showed immediate distress while pointing to his hip and back area. He was in no position to continue and the referee waved the bout over.
Inoue scores his 28th straight win in what was his 23rd world title fight and retains the No. 2 position in the pound-for-pound ratings.
The Sporting News takes a look at the top 12 pound-for-pound fighters in the world today:
Pound-for-pound rankings: The Sporting News' top 12
| Rank | Fighter | Record | Movement (Sept. 3, 2024) |
| 1 | Oleksandr Usyk | 22-0 (14 KOs) | - |
| 2 | Naoya Inoue | 28-0 (25 KOs) | - |
| 3 | Terence Crawford | 41-0 (31 KOs) | - |
| 4 | Canelo Alvarez | 61-2-2 (39 KOs) | - |
| 5 | Jesse Rodriguez | 20-0 (13 KOs) | - |
| 6 | Dmitry Bivol | 23-0 (12 KOs) | - |
| 7 | Artur Beterbiev | 20-0 (20 KOs) | - |
| 8 | Teofimo Lopez | 21-1 (13 KOs) | - |
| 9 | Gervonta Davis | 30-0 (28 KOs) | - |
| 10 | Errol Spence Jr. | 28-1 (22 KOs) | - |
| 11 | Shakur Stevenson | 22-0 (10 KOs) | - |
| 12 | Junto Nakatani | 27-0 (20 KOs) | - |
The best in the world pound-for-pound: Oleksandr Usyk
In effect, Usyk has completed boxing. An Olympic champion at London 2012, this quick and cerebral lefty has been no less successful as a professional, and he's the very definition of what a pound-for-pound superstar should be.
At 37 years old, Usyk has become the first undisputed cruiserweight champion to achieve the distinction at heavyweight since Evander Holyfield more than 30 years ago. Despite giving away huge amounts of height and reach to today's behemoths, Usyk has proved himself the one true king of the glamour division.
Signature wins for the Ukrainian warrior include Mairis Briedis, Murat Gassiev, Anthony Joshua, and Tyson Fury.
The Sporting News' Boxing Ratings
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