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Danny Roman has a heartfelt message for ‘great warrior’ TJ Doheny on fight anniversary

Danny Roman took time to thank and pay tribute to the ‘great warrior’ that is TJ Doheny on the anniversary of thier all action world title fight.

Two years and one day ago the Irish and American put their respective IBF and WBA world titles on the line against each other at the Forum in Inglewood, LA.

What followed was a brilliant 12 rounds, as the duo served up a Fight of the Year contender. The Portlaoise fighter suffered a flash knockdown in the second and had a torrid eleventh, however, that doesn’t tell the full story, with Doheny having his man out on his feet in the seventh as the pendulum swung back and forward throughout. In the end Doheny lost the fight by majority decision, losing his title in the process. However, he gained the respect of fight fans around the world and of Roman, who remains a fan.

Indeed, he took to social media on the anniversary of the fight to express as much. In the early hours of Wednesday morning Irish time, he paid tribute to the Irish ‘warrior’ and thanked him for giving him the chance to become a unified world champ.

Speaking online Roman said: “Wow!! I have been so busy with my fight camp I completely forgot that on this day I met a great warrior in TJ Doheny to become a unified world champion. Once again I thank you TJ for the opportunity and I will forever cherish that moment. God bless!!”

The kind of respect shown by Roman toward Doheny is common between fighters that have drawn blood from each other. In the case of the American, it goes a bit deeper than that. In the build-up to the fight, Roman regularly commended the Australian-based Laois native for agreeing to trade leather. It was felt ‘The Power’, who upset the odds in Japan to become champion, may take some routine defences before looking to unify. However, as soon as possible and after just one defence he was keen to fight Roman, something his eventual defeater admired.

There was talk of a rematch and both have remarked positively in that regard. However, at present both are out of the spotlight and it probably wouldn’t generate peak revenue at this stage. Doheny hasn’t fought since his shock defeat to Ionut Baluta, who fights Michael Conlan on Friday, while Roman, who lost his titles to Murodjon Akhmadaliev, the fighter Conlan defeated to win World Amateur gold, hasn’t appeared in the ring since Septeber of last year.

Interestingly enough both could interest Michael Conlan as he searches for a big name opponent for August, provided he comes through Friday unscathe.

Jonny Stapleton

Irish-boxing.com contributor for 15 years and editor for the past decade. Have been covering boxing for over 16 years and writing about sports for a living for over 20 years. Former Assistant Sports editor for the Gazette News Paper Group and former Tallaght Voice Sports Editor. Have had work published in publications around the world when working as a freelance journalist. Also co-founder of Junior Sports Media and Leinster Rugby PRO of the Year winner. email: editoririshboxing@gmail.com

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