Perth-based Portlaoise puncher TJ "The Power" Doheny is determined to get back into boxing's world super-bantamweight title picture later this year.
Speaking to Off the Ball from his Australian home, the former IBF title holder is still coming to terms with a shock loss to Ionat Baluta earlier this month which was intended to be a placeholder fight to remain busy ahead of potential bouts with unified champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev or rival Danny Roman in the Autumn.
Doheny, who followed in Wayne McCullough's footsteps by winning his belt in Japan in 2018 before losing to Roman in a fight of the year contender in 2019, says he was "absolutely" devastated to suffer just the second loss of his pro career against the Romanian youngster:
"I was on such a high because I was sitting in the mandatory challenger position, I was sitting in the box-seat for title eliminators with all the top boxing governing all over the world. I'm doing interviews on the day of the fight in Dubai, keeping my eye on the ball, and talking about potential big fights with Danny Roman and (current WBA and IBF champion) Murodjon Akhmadaliev towards the end of the year. Did I take my eye off the ball a little? I'm still going through so many different scenarios to make sense of what happened on the night. No disrespect to Baluta, I have to take to take the loss on the chin, but a fighter like that shouldn't even be giving me a problem.
"It was just a freak night...what I'm kinda blaming it on, I'm a 12 round fighter and I only got into it after four rounds and he was blowing hard. I felt like I was bossing the rounds and scoring the harder punches but when you look back at the scorecards you could see the judges were just looking for a lad who was peppering and running, a more amateur style. I'm more used to getting used to being judged on the American system, where it's weighted toward controlling the ring. I felt like I was in control and winning and then when it took so long for the scorecards to be read out I was worried it could be called a draw, then when I saw the scores were so wide apart I was sure I had won and then I saw his hand raised and I was just absolutely devastated.
"That's why I was so devastated the next morning, it was just meant to be an eight round "keep busy" bout because I hadn't fought for six months, and then we were due to move to bigger things. It's a little setback but MTK have promised me that they still have a plan in place for me, I just gotta keep working and everything will fall into place. I just have to keep the fingers crossed because everything is so unpredictable in professional boxing. The stylistic matchup against a guy who hits and runs, you need more rounds because you need to break him down. If I'd been up against a brawler who wanted to stand up, I've got the power and one of the biggest punches in the division, and I could have got a fighter like that out early. I needed 10 or 12 rounds, I don't know what the thought process was around 8 rounds but it's easy to say a lot of things in hindsight.
"I take defeats horribly," Doheny admits. "even when playing games with my son I have to cheat and try and beat him! I won't get over the Danny Roman loss until I have my opportunity to avenge that defeat and I've had a freak loss in Dubai. I wasn't like I was beaten by a better opponent, we just have to get back on the horse and get it rectified as quickly as possible. It's a fantastic situation at super-bantamweight right now, we're (Roman and Akhmadaliev) all fighting under the Matchroom and DAZN umbrella at the moment so these fights are all easy to make and each is appetising because the three of us have fan-friendly styles and it's great for tv.
"It's a bit of a waiting game at the moment, Danny Roman is back training and pushing for his rematch and I want a big fight as well so hopefully I can get something exciting. I want to get back out and prove I'm better than what I showed in Dubai and that I'm far from done. Hopefully I can get a big win and get back in contention with Roman and Akhmadaliev again."
18 January 2019; TJ Doheny celebrates his victoryover Ryohei Takahashi following their International Boxing Federation World Super Bantamweight Title Fight at Madison Square Garden Theater, New York, USA. Photo by Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing USA via Sportsfile
33-year-old Doheny had a coronavirus scare after arriving back from the Baluta fight in Dubai and he says the attitude toward the pandemic has been changing in Australia in recent days:
"We're not on a total lockdown but it's only a matter of time before it happens. As much as people are being told to follow the rules, everybody thought it was less serious than it was and before you know it we'll be stuck in our homes.
"A couple of friends travelled with me and they were covered up with gloves and masks and I was "Mr Macho" laughing it off and thinking it wasn't that serious - at the time. I think so far around one per cent of cases have been positive tests in Australia. When I go back from Dubai I started to develop cold and flu symptoms and I ended up having to go and do a test myself. It came back negative but I've been following the rules since and social isolating and luckily enough I've got my own gym here in the house so I don't have to travel. I've been lucky that way.
"I'm blessed that I'm a sponsored athlete, I've got a wage coming in whether I'm in action or not, but a lot of guys out there are fighting from paycheck to paycheck and the cost of training camps and travel is huge. It's tough for lads, the amount of shows that have been postponed, I know what it's like being stuck in limbo and waiting for the next fight."
Among the upcoming bouts likely to be affected by the COVID-19 outbreak is Carl Frampton's WBO world super-featherweight title bout against Jamel Herring in June with the Jackal admitting that neither man is able to train properly due to social distancing. Doheny says a lack of sparring makes it impossible to get sharp:
"As myself and Carl get older, you can't just be murdering yourself on the threadmill and doing crazy weights,"Doheny added. "When you get past 30 you have to train smart and be careful about the miles on the clock. Most of the work and the conditioning is done in sparring and you just top up with your cardio and weights work. We're missing out by not having close contact sparring, even if it was light sparring but it just cannot be done. So you just have to soldier on and follow the rules and hope that this all blows over a bit sooner than we think it will.
"I was lying to myself for a long time, thinking I'm not losing anything with age. When I look back I used to be a lot more reliant on my legs where now I don't really use my feet as much as they're slowing down and I'm more of a pressure fighter these days. You have to adapt to the way your body is ageing, I don't dance around the ring the way I used to and stick and move, I'm more of a defensive pressure fighter which actually suits me. I'm enjoying it but you do notice things changing and you can't be lying to yourself. I feel like I'm developing into a tidy fighter which suits with the way my body is ageing, so it's not really a problem."
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