INOUE BREAKS DOWN, STOPS DOHENY IN 7TH

As expected, pound for pound superstar Naoya Inoue of Japan stopped TJ Doheny of Ireland to successfully defend his undisputed super bantamweight titles Tuesday night at the Ariake Arena in Japan.

It was not a sensational stoppage but Inoue displayed another facet of his game, displaying patience, good defense and incrementally increasing the heat, so to speak, to slowly break down the Irish as the rounds went on. So the punishment increased round by round, and by the sixth, Doheney was cooked and ready to be served.

In the 7th, Inoue literally broke Doheny's back as the Irish backed himself up towards the ropes while Inoue was pounding the hapless former IBF title holder. Suddenly Doheny signaled time and the fight was over. Doheny limped towards his corner and was later helped by his team to get down from the ring and into the dressing room.

Inoue has now increased his undefeated record to 28 wins with 25 KOs. The last 23 of his fights were world title fights.

Doheny, at 37, may have fought the last big fight of his career. His record now stands at 26 wins and 5 losses with 20 wins inside the distance.