Laois super-bantamweight TJ Doheny thrives on pressure and feels Danny Roman’s home town advantage will count for little in tonight’s unification showdown in Los Angeles.
Unbeaten Doheny, the IBF champion, and WBA titlist Roman go head-to-head over 12 rounds at The Forum.
Both men claimed their belts in Japan in 2017 and 2018, and Roman, who has won 26 of his 29 outings, is thrilled to be fighting in his own backyard.
“I would see fight posters for the Forum and I always imagined fighting there. I really never thought that I would,” said the 28-year-old LA orthodox ahead of his fourth defence.
“But look at me now, the biggest fight of my career and it’s at The Forum and it’s what dreams are made of. TJ is a very good fighter. It’s a big challenge.”
Australia-based Doheny, who beat Carl Frampton in the Elite Irish amateur ranks, is not into predictions – except for forecasting fireworks – in his 22 paid outing.
“It’s not my style to make any fight predictions. I know Danny is going to bring it. He better believe that I’m well prepared for whatever he brings,” said the 32-year-old ex-Portlaoise BC southpaw.
“He wants to unify, I want to unify, it’s what all the top champions should want to do. I keep saying you win the world title and it’s a dream come true, but then you have got to raise the bar.
“Fair play to Danny for taking the unification on. It’s what the fans want, it’s what we both want. You want to unify the division and cement your name at the top.”
He added: “It’s exciting for me to be able to box in all these places like Tokyo, New York, Sydney, and now LA. I thrive on it. It’s the stuff of dreams.”
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