FORMER SUPER-BANTAMWEIGHT WORLD champion TJ Doheny will fight for the first time since his world-title unification defeat to Danny Roman last April when he takes to the ring on Oleksandr Usyk’s undercard in Chicago this Saturday night.
Doheny [21-1, 15KOs] will face Colombian veteran Jesus Martinez [26-9, 13KOs], a fellow southpaw, in an eight-rounder at the Windy City’s Wintrust Arena where he will bid to return to winning ways en route toward a potential rematch with now-unified champion Roman.
The Portlaoise boxer-puncher has been in camp for eight weeks in preparation for his comeback bout, which was confirmed only days out from the Usyk-headlined Matchroom bill.
The Sydney-based, Boston-trained Doheny will be expected to handle business in style against the 38-year-old Colombian, eight of whose last 11 contests have been defeats as he enters the twilight years of a solid career.
‘The Power’, 32, who emigrated to Australia a decade ago, suffered his sole career reversal in a fight-of-the-year-calibre contest with then-fellow champion Roman [27-2-1, 10KOs] in Los Angeles last April. Doheny came within a whisker of stopping the hometown hero but was also forced to twice peel himself from the canvas in a majority-decision defeat which nonetheless saw his stock rise in the States.
He had sensationally upset Ryosuke Iwasa to win the IBF super-bantamweight title in Japan the previous summer, and remains ranked at 126 pounds by both the IBF (#6) and the WBC (#4) in spite of his maiden defeat.
Doheny-Martinez takes place on a stacked Matchroom USA bill which will also feature Jessica McCaskill — a former and perhaps future opponent of Katie Taylor’s — in a rematch defence of her 140-pound world titles, as well as light-heavyweight standout Dmitry Bivol.
The card will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in Ireland and the UK as well as streaming platform DAZN in the States.
Eoin Toolan and Murray Kinsella join Gavan Casey to give an in-depth breakdown of where Ireland’s play stacks up against the contenders in Japan, and look into why New Zealand and England are primed for World Cup success.
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