Members of Laois County Council have announced they will hold a public civic reception to honour the achievements of World Boxing champion TJ Doheny.
Doheny will come home to Portlaoise this Friday evening for a ceremony at 6.30pm.
He will be paraded in an open top car and head towards the plaza where all the people of Portlaoise and Laois are encouraged to attend.
Councillor Catherine Fitzgerald wants to see a huge crowd out on the streets.
She said: “I want to see a massive crowd out to welcome TJ home and congratulate him on what he has done.
“It is certainly not everyday we have a world champion and TJ is one of our own, a proud Townie.
“And we have unanimously decided to make this a public reception so that we can share TJ’s celebration with everyone.”
Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley echoed Cllr Fitzgerald’s sentiments.
She said: “TJ grew up in Knockmay and I know everyone is very proud of what he has done.
“We are all looking forward to Friday.”
Doheny was crowned IBF Junior Featherweight Champion of the world in August when he defeated Japan’s Ryosuke Iwasa in the 2,000-capacity Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
The fight went the full 12 rounds where Doheny won on the judges decision on points.
A huge Irish crowd were in attendance in Japan with chants of ‘TJ, TJ, TJ’ flying up routinely and often drowning out the local supporters.
With the bout deep in the 11th Round, Ole, Ole. Ole rang around the venue.
Doheny battled bravely throughout and won with all three of the judges scoring the bout in his favour.
He won on a judges score of 115-113, 116-112 and 117-112.
Doheny looked in trouble early on as a shot from Iwasa drew blood pouring from a massive cut under his eye.
But he battled on and executed a number of perfectly timed shots to the head and torso of the Japanese man.
Doheny’s achievement is simply incredible. Before his succress, Wayne McCullough is the only fighter from either Ireland or the UK has ever won a world title on Japanese soil, way back in 1995.
Doheny’s win means he has become the 21st Irish world champion and only the second ever Irishman after Jimmy McLarnin in 1933 to attain champion status without ever having fought on his native soil.
The 31-year-old’s road to here has been nothing short of incredible. His record read as follows: 19 fights, 19 wins, 14 knockouts; 15 fights in Australia, two in the United States, one in Thailand, none at home.
That now reads 20 fights and no defeats.
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