No Curtain Call – TJ Doheny Plans to Prolong Final Chapter with World Title Win
TJ Doheny says he won’t be leaving the boxing stage after his world title fight with Nick Ball on Saturday night.
Rather, the Portlaoise native says he will begin an exciting final act by dethroning the Liverpudlian in his hometown.
‘The Power’ slammed the door shut on any curtain call talk, declaring he will defeat the WBA featherweight world title at the M&S Bank Arena to put his name on a distinguished two-weight world champion list that only includes Irish sporting legends Katie Taylor, Carl Frampton and Steve Collins.
“This is far from a curtain call for me. I’m coming here to win,” he declared ahead of the fight.
The former IBF world super bantamweight champion plans to become a world champion again and make several defences, one of which he hopes plays out in Ireland.
“This is no curtain call. I’ll win the title and get a couple of defences in,” he adds.
“I’ve just turned 38, I’ll be hoping to be out of the game by 40. I’m 38, but everything feels perfect. So it’s no curtain call for me, hopefully, I get a defence at home and a homecoming before I hang them up.”
To cement his status as one of Ireland’s greatest-ever boxers, ‘The Power’ has to defeat an impressive champion.
In true straight-talking and honest fashion, the Portlaoise BC graduate, who gave Naoya Inoue a fight last time out, isn’t afraid to point to the Queensberry man’s qualities.
However, when he says Ball has a style he likes, Doheny doesn’t mean he is a fan.
“I can’t say he is one-dimensional because he has good footwork and he likes to switch it up on the inside, but I just enjpy fighting guys I don’t have to go looking for.
“I just don’t like having to chase guys down, and I won’t have to do that with Nick.”
