By Anthony Cocks
IBF super bantamweight champion TJ ‘The Power’ Doheny 21-0 (15) received the news he has been waiting for with the announcement that he will face WBA counterpart Daniel Roman 26-2-1 (10) in a unification bout at the Forum in Inglewood, California on April 26.
The Australian-based Irishman wrested the world title from Ryosuke Iwasa in Japan last August and successfully defended the title at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden against Ryohei Takahashi in January. Doheny immediately called for a unification bout after the fight.
“This was my ideal scenario – get the voluntary defence out of the way, then go straight into the unification, so great work from my team and Eddie Hearn with Matchroom Boxing USA for getting this fight on,” the 32-year-old southpaw said.
“It’s unbelievable, it would mean the world to me. It’s just another box ticked; after I won the world title, the next goal was to become a unified champion. I’m looking forward to achieving that.
“We met in the ring after the fight in New York and there was a lot of respect for each other. That’s the way it should be. We’re two world-class fighters, two world champion in the division. A fight like this doesn’t need any false hype, I think when that when you’ve got two world-class fighters like this, that’s enough of a selling point for a high-calibre fight.”
Road warrior Doheny, who has fought a third of his pro bouts outside of his adopted home of Australia, praised Roman for his skillset and said he has no concerns about fighting in his opponent’s backyard.
“Danny’s a great fighter. He adds a lot of pressure, he’s a great puncher, great punch selection; he’s really got it all. It’s going to be a great fight between us and I won’t be surprised if the fans get to see a bit of a war,” Doheny said.
“Fighting Danny in his home city, that doesn’t bother me. I’ve been fighting on the road my whole career, so it will be no different to me. It’s me and him in the ring and it’s going to be all action.”
Roman, 28, lifted the WBA crown from Shun Kobo back in September 2017 and most recently defended the belt against Gavin McDonnell via late stoppage in October.
The Doheny-Roman unification clash will be on the same card as Thai hero Srisaket Sor Rungvisai’s WBC super flyweight title defence against Juan Carlos Estrada.