Ryosuke Iwasa To Defend IBF Super Bantamweight Title Against TJ Doheny In August

TJ Doheny will finally get his shot at Ryosuke Iwasa’s IBF super bantamweight world title.

Doheny, the mandatory challenger to the IBF title, first wrote on Twitter that a deal has been agreed upon for the two boxers to fight on August 16 in Tokyo. It will be Doheny’s first world title fight after starting his career a perfect 19-0 with 14 KO. Doheny defeated Mike Tawatchai via unanimous decision in a title eliminator in Bangkok, Thailand last year to become the mandatory challenger.

During a recent media gathering in Tokyo, Iwasa stated how important his upcoming fight against Doheny, his second IBF world title defense, will be. 

"My match with TJ Doheny will be very important for me so that I will be able to demonstrate my worth as a world champion, even more with my pugilistic qualities to the quality of a world champion," Iwasa said.

Iwasa's two losses came against Lee Haskins and Shinsuke Yamanaka in title bouts. Iwasa first won the title last year when he scored a tKO win over former champion Yukinori Oguni and then successfully defended his title by getting a unanimous decision win over Ernesto Saulong back in March. Doheny, a southpaw and the IBF's top-ranked super bantamweight boxer, has held the PABA super bantamweight title since winning it in his fifth professional fight back in 2013.