Opening Shots

By The Ring |

Undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue resurfaced to take on another challenger on September 3 in Tokyo, this time a determined-but-still-doomed TJ Doheny. Once again, Inoue proved that the worst thing you can do is trouble him, as he dialed up the aggression in the sixth round after Doheny had a few pockets of success in the first half of the fight. The Irishman’s campaign ended in the seventh round when his leg was somehow injured while under attack from Inoue and he couldn’t continue — not the sort of emphatic “chew ’em up and spit ’em out” ending we’re used to seeing from The Monster, but the stoppage moved his record further into the stratosphere at 28-0 (25 KOs).

In the fight preceding the main event, WBO bantamweight titleholder Yoshiki Takei faced Daigo Higa, former holder of the WBC flyweight belt. The dramatic battle saw Takei overcome a knockdown in the 11th round to finish strong and take the victory by a razor-thin but unanimous decision.

Diehards around the globe woke up at ungodly hours to watch the fights live, but if you weren’t one of them, the best photographer in the business has you covered. And if you were one of them, you’ll still want to check out these ringside shots from Naoki Fukuda …

TAKEI VS. HIGA

The challenger, Daigo Higa …