THE MAJORITY OF people in this country haven’t heard of TJ Doheny and yet if he were to have his hand raised at centre-ring in Tokyo next Thursday his name would be worthy of inclusion in the Eamon Dunphy Pantheon of Irish Sporting Greats: the Henry Shefflins, the AP McCoys, the Ruby Walshes – the few who have shown the courage to seize immortality where the many have fallen.
‘The Power’ from Portlaoise has been a self-effacing force whose six-year professional boxing career has been forged thousands of miles to either side of his native land: 19 fights, 19 wins, 14 knockouts; 15 fights in Australia, two in the States, one in Thailand, none at home.
Having missed out on the Beijing Olympics following consecutive defeats to John Joe Nevin, a disillusioned Doheny upped sticks for Australia. He joined boxing’s punch-for-pay ranks four years later in 2012 – the same year Nevin won Olympic silver in London.
Doheny’s road less travelled has zig-zagged toward the Japanese capital where he touched down on Thursday; where he stands on the precipice of one of the great Irish sporting accomplishments; where world-title dreams generally go to die.
“Shit’s gettin’ real now, boys.” Portlaoise boxer @TjDoheny swarmed by Japanese press as he touches down in Tokyo for his world title fight with Ryosuke Iwasa this day next week. pic.twitter.com/6SCxgrnS4t
— Gavan Casey (@GavanCasey) August 9, 2018
“Shit’s getting real now, boys,” he noted as he was swarmed by local press upon his arrival at Tokyo International Airport.
That’s a reasonable interpretation of things, all right. The final threshold is especially treacherous: at the 2,000-capacity Korakuen Hall next Thursday, the 31-year-old super-bantamweight southpaw will trade leather with Ryosuke Iwasa [25-2, 16KOs] whose IBF world title Doheny hopes to sling over his own shoulder after 12 rounds or fewer.
The put the challenge facing the Laois man into a starker context, though, only one fighter from either Ireland or the UK has ever won a world title on Japanese soil: Wayne McCullough, who relieved bantamweight champ Yasuei Yakushiji of his WBC strap 23 years ago, stands alone as the sole pugilist from either side of the Irish Sea to have planted his flag in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Were Doheny to emulate ‘The Pocket Rocket”s legendary achievement, he would become the 21st boxing world champion to hail from this island per Irish-boxing.com, and the first Irishman since the great Jimmy McLarnin in 1933 to attain champion status without ever having fought on his native soil.
‘The Power’ is indeed the quintessential road warrior, even if his bouts Down Under can, at this stage, be considered ‘home’ affairs.
To earn his shot at world honours Doheny made the rather precarious-looking trip to Bangkok for a title eliminator, brawling and besting local legend Pipat Chaiporn in his own backyard.
And though the champion will pose a more grave threat entirely – Iwasa has won six straight since moving up from bantam, four of them quick – he’s wary of Doheny with good reason: the two blemishes on Iwasa’s record, both of them stoppages a division below, have been hand-delivered by southpaws.
Iwasa duly admitted at a press conference in June that Doheny’s lefty stance is his ‘Achilles Heel,’ and he’s cognisant that the powerful Laois man – who holds a victory over Carl Frampton in the amateurs – will be packing plenty of heat when they step to it next week.
2017 for Doheny began at home in Ireland: his mother was in a coma for nearly eight weeks following a car accident and, having helped to care for her, he just about made it back to Australia for the birth of his second child, a son, Theo James. Training camp for his stoppage victory in June saw to it that he missed his daughter Nicole’s Confirmation.
Later in the year, there was a non-familial setback: Russian former world champion Evgeny Gradovich, who would be forced to retire from the sport soon afterwards, withdrew from a world-title eliminator with Doheny three weeks out, citing problems with his vision.
2018, the Irish contender hopes, will culminate in a far more celebratory return to his homeland, but it’s going to take something borderline tectonic to shift Iwasa on his own patch.
TJ, all the best my man. Your time!!!
— Carl Frampton MBE (@RealCFrampton) August 10, 2018
All the best champ
— Jason Quigley (@jay_quigley) August 8, 2018
Best of luck @TjDoheny grab it with both hands mate 💥🥊🙌🏽 https://t.co/KynwWJHarP
— Michael Conlan (@mickconlan11) August 9, 2018
If can pull off one of the great smash-and-grabs and conquer the world next Thursday, there likely won’t be a homecoming reception before thousands on Dame Street, but Doheny and his shiny new strap will sit pretty alongside the hockey World Cup heroes, the Brian O’Driscolls, the Eamonn Coghlans, the Sonia O’Sullivans…
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
