TJ Doheny determined to secure Roman repeat
TJ Doheny [22(16)-1(0)] wants straight into a rematch with Danny Roman [27(10)-2(0)-1] but knows he will most likely have to bide his time for a return.
‘The Power’ returned since losing to Roman in a Fight of the Year contender in April with victory over Jesus Martinez on a Matchroom USA card in Chicago last weekend.
The Portlaoise southpaw bounced back from a unification loss that he admits weighed heavy with a sixth-round stoppage victory on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk’s heavyweight debut.
The Australian-based, Boston-trained, former IBF super bantamweight champion of the world isn’t keen on any more ‘hit outs’ or warm-up fights.
The 32-year-old wants the rematch a host of neutrals have been calling for and wants it straight away.
“Please god that fight will happen as soon as it can be made,” he said when speaking to IFL TV.
“Danny’s a man – he said he’d give me the rematch – I’m sure he’s a man of his word,” he added.
With both aligned to Matchroom and DAZN it seems an easy fight to make, but Doheny may have to bide his time as the American has mandatory commitments to fulfill.
‘The Baby Faced Assassin’ pulled out of a WBA mandatory defence versus Murodjan Akhmadaliev early September week with an injured shoulder and must face the Uzbek next.
Then there are his IBF obligations, with Ryosuke Iwasa, who Doheny beat to win the title last year, having worked his way into the mandatory position.
Doheny could explore the WBC route, that title is held by Rey Vargas who is also DAZN-affiliated – while WBO kingpin Emanuel Navarrete is with Top Rank and ESPN who now work closely with the Irishman’s management.
However, the Laois fighter is Roman keen and is reluctantly willing to wait for a repeat.
“We know Roman has a busy schedule, he has to get through those fights. We are back to winning ways, we are happy and now we can start positioning ourselves toward a decent fight. If it takes time we might have to get another hit out, but what I am looking for now is another eliminator or a world title fight, but I am not dumb either it might take time.”
It may not be the unified champion next, but the former world title holder certainly wants something to be on the when he returns.
Doheny is keen to impress and implies that is impossible to achieve against someone like Martinez.
“Out of 10 I’d probably give myself a five,” he said of his performance on Saturday.
“I hurt him early and I was just a little bit eager to get him then instead of just relaxing and enjoying the flow. The stoppage was coming anyway I didn’t have to go looking for it. He was quite negative. It’s hard to look good against a negative fighter because they won’t engage you have to go looking for them.”
