Nick Ball’s defense against Doheny: Why a title after a knockout loss doesn’t make sense

Nick Ball says he will have a ‘Statement“With his title defense of his WBA featherweight belt against the #6-selected TJ Doheny in their main meeting on this Saturday, March 15, in the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England.

Fans do not understand why Ball, 28, defends against 38-year-old Doheny. Doheny (26-5, 20 COs) comes from a seventh round knockout loss to undisputed Super Bantamweight champion Naoya inoue on September 3 last year.

Pathetic choice

In addition, Irish native Doheny makes his debut at 126, which makes it look even more strange. It would be a little more sporty if Ball at least fights someone who fights with featherweight and achieved a win. Isn’t that how it is supposed to work?

These murderers are ranked above Doheny on the WBA’s feather -ganglist:

– Bruce Carrington
– otabek kholmatov
– Brandon Figueroa
– Mircco neck

The use of Doheny as the opponent at one level makes sense to sell tickets to casual box fans who recognize his name. However, this is not a good value for fans, because he is clearly washed and does not belong in the ring with a champion like Nick Ball. You are also supposed to earn world title shots and not get from the back of a knockout loss. It defeats the whole purpose if fighters can fight for world titles after being blown out.

TJ Doheny was a good fighter years ago, but he has been on the slide since 2019 when he went through a bad patch where he went 1-3. His career has not returned since then, as all his victories have come against Scrubs.

Ball (21-0-1, 12 CO’s) makes his second defense of his 126-pound WBA belt he won against Raymond Ford last year.

Full Dazn chart for Saturday

Nick Ball vs. TJ Doheny
Andrew Cain vs. Charlie Edwards
Herrera Cores vs. Jose Macias Enriquez
Brad Strand vs. Ionut baluta
Jack Turner vs. Ryan Farrag
Jack Power against Jose Aguirre
Stephen Clarke vs. Dmitri Protunas
Joe Bourne vs. Cristian uwaka
William Birchall vs. Angel gomez

TJ Doheny: “I look forward to showing my skills in front of a passionate Liverpool crowd this weekend,” Doheny said during today’s press conference Before his fight against WBA featherweight champion Nick Ball this Saturday night. “He’s a good little fighter. He is not a world champion for nothing. ‘

Nick Ball: “I don’t care what he did, with who he was and what he did in his last fight. It’s all irrelevant. It’s all in the past. He is fighting me Saturday night. I’m just focused on it, ‘says Nick Ball, talking about 38-year-old Doheny, who’s coming out of a knockout.

“I don’t really know. It doesn’t really matter to me, ”Ball said when asked if Doheny really believed he could win. I’m focused on my focus and I believe in me. It’s Saturday night and does what I do best. I always want to do a better job, and always want to do a statement performance, especially in Liverpool with everyone who came out and bought tickets to support all the fighters. That’s what they deserve to host a show for them, ”Ball said when asked if he wanted to do a better job against Doheny than Naoya Inoue in his 7th Round TKO victory in September last year.