TJ Doheny fell short in his bid to become the oldest featherweight champion in boxing history.
Doheny, 38, retired on his stool at the conclusion of Round 10 on Saturday afternoon, giving Nick Ball a TKO victory to retain his WBA featherweight title at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England.
The bout opened with a bizarre scene, as Ball (22-0-1, 13 KOs) floored Doheny (26-6, 20 KOs) with a left leg kick after the bell rang to mark the finish of the first round. Doheny had been holding onto the champion in a headlock, and a frustrated Ball kicked Doheny on his calves from behind after breaking out of the hold.
Surprisingly, no point was deducted from Ball, but he did lose a point later in the fight after pushing Doheny to the ground for the second time in the contest.
Doheny started the bout well, managing to keep Ball off him for the early rounds. Doheny’s southpaw stance and sharp left hand kept Ball hesitant, but it didn’t take long for Doheny’s 38-year-old legs to fatigue, and Ball took over in the second half of the fight.
As the rounds wore on, Doheny began to wilt under Ball’s constant pressure and volume punching. In Round 10, Ball had Doheny on the ropes and covering up on several occasions. It was clear that Doheny didn’t have the energy to see out the contest, and as a result, the Irishman’s corner pulled him out at the end of the round.
Ball has been vocal about his desire to defend his WBA title against the undisputed super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue at some point. Inoue, who is the biggest star of boxing’s lower weight classes, has his next two fights lined up: A May 4 title defense at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas against Ramon Cardenas, followed by a September mandatory defense against MJ Akhmadaliev in Tokyo.
The Liverpudlian Ball could be ordered to face his mandatory challenger next, Argentina’s Mirco Cuello. Cuello became the No. 1 contender after stopping Christian Olivo Barreda in the final round on the David Benavidez vs. David Morrell undercard this past month. Cuello was behind on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage and would’ve lost the fight had it lasted 59 more seconds and reached the final bell.
Check out complete Ball vs. Doheny results, highlights and play-by-play of the main card below.
