‘We will have to run it back at some stage, belt or no belt’ – TJ Doheny still wants Danny Roman rematch

TJ Doheny [22(16)-1(0)] doesn’t believe belts have to be on the line for him to rematch Danny Roman [27(10)-3(0)-1] – and so good was their first meeting that not many would disagree.

The pair took part in a Fight of the Year contender when they both put their world titles on the line in what turned out to be a classic unification bout back in April of last year.

The American emerge victorious that night, left the ring with the IBF and WBA super bantamweight world straps and Doheny has been looking for a rematch since.

The Baby Face Assassin has since lost both belts after losing to former Michael Conlan amateur rival Murodjon Akhmadaliev.

The Matchroom USA fighter took a risk in taking on the Uzbek and it back fired.

Portlaoise fighter Doheny admits he was ‘gutted’ for his old foe and that the defeat takes a bit a gloss of any return.

However, he doesn’t think a repeat would have to be a world title fight for fans to want to watch it again.

“I was absolutely gutted for Danny losing his belts and that loss has taken a lot of the hype out of our rematch, but one thing for sure is that we will have to run it back at some stage, belt or no belt,” Doheny who fights in Dubai this Friday night told Irish-boxing.com.

‘The Power’ also feels Roman did enough to win the fight and should have been given the nod after such a close encouther.

“I felt Danny did enough to beat Akhmadaliev he was doing the more effective work throughout the rounds but MJ was upping the pace late on in the rounds trying to steal and it worked for him so fair play. But as the defending unified champ I feel Roman should have been favoured in the closer rounds.”