TJ Doheny vs. Ryosuke Iwasa – Results

By Boxing News - 08/15/2018 - Comments

By Scott Gilfoid: In a highly controversial decision, #1 IBF mandatory challenger TJ Doheny (20-0, 14 KOs) defeated International Boxing Federation World super bantamweight champion Ryosuke Iwasa (25-3, 16 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision on Thursday night at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. The Doheny vs. Iwasa fight was streamed on ESPN+ in the U.S.

The judges scored it 116-112, 117-112 and 115-112. Boxing News 24 scored it in favor of the talented 28-year-old Iwasa by a 116-112 score. The judges were from the U.S, Australia and Japan. Whatever the case, Iwasa still looked like the clear winner in the fight. The scoring of the fight was absolutely atrocious. It’s unclear whether Doheny’s management will give Iwasa a rematch. It would be nice if they gave the Japanese fighter a rematch because the results of the fight were too controversial for Doheny to walk away from without taking a ton of abuse from the boxing public. Doheny doesn’t have to give Iwasa a rematch if he doesn’t wish to. Doheny was the mandatory challenger. It would be up to the IBF if they want to order Doheny to give Iwasa a rematch, which is highly unlikely.

This was a big upset for the 31-year-old Doheny, who comes from Ireland, as he wasn’t expected to win the contest. Despite coming into the bout with a glittering 19-0, 14 KOs) record, Doheny had never beaten anyone of note that would suggest that he would pull off an upset against Iwasa. But with a large crowd or Doheny’s Irish supporters, who had made the long trip to Japan, they cheered him on the victory.

Doheny looked badly beaten up around the face, with dark bruised under his eyes and cuts. Iwasa got up to what appeared to be a big lead in the first half of the fight. The Japanese talent appeared to have won 5 of the first 6 rounds of the bout. Going into the second half of the fight, things looked bleak for Doheny. Without a minor miracle, Doheny looked destined to lose by a lopsided 12 round decision. Little did one know that the judges were scoring the fight much differently than how it was playing out? Instead Doheny finishing strong, he looked badly tired in the second half of the fight. Iwasa got the better of Doheny with beautiful lefts and rights to the head. Iwasa was really tattooing the exhausted looking Doheny in the last six rounds of the fight.

Iwasa recently captured the IBF 122 pound title last year in beating Yukinoro Oquni by a 6th round knockout in September of 2017. In Iwasa’s first defense of his IBF title, he defeated Ernesto Saulong by a 12 round unanimous decision last March.

Doheny was bleeding from the 1st round after suffering a cut under his right eye. The blood was everywhere, as his corner couldn’t staunch the flow of the constantly dripping blood. Doheny applied pressure to Iwasa, but it was sloppy pressure that resulted in him getting hit a lot. In the 4th round, Doheny was cut under his left eye. Now with blood dripping from both eyes, Doheny had two targets for Iwasa to land his hard shots.

In the championship rounds, Doheny looked completely exhausted from the fast pace of the fight. He was landing shots, but his arms looked rubbery and weak due to his fatigue. Iwasa’s punches were clearly the harder shots compared to the tired out Doheny. It was impossible to see Doheny winning any of the last four rounds due to his fatigue.

After the fight, Doheny paraded around the ring like a proud peacock after he was given the ‘W’ by the three judges. Doheny looked like he couldn’t believe he was given the victory. Like many watching the contest, Doheny likely felt he should have lost the fight.