Nick Ball pushes closer to showdown with this superstar after overwhelming TJ Doheny

Nick Ball is one step closer to a showdown with pound-for-pound great Naoya Inoue.

That became clear after Ball dominated TJ Doheny, forcing the referee to stop the action following the 10th round toward the latest defense of his WBA featherweight world championship Saturday night at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England on Saturday, and live on DAZN.

After overwhelming Doheny, Ball and his promoter Frank Warren had more ammunition to ramp up toward a mega bout with Inoue, the reigning undisputed junior featherweight world champion.

"That happens, it'd be towards the end of the year or maybe early next year but that's the plan," Warren told TNT Sports about Ball fighting Inoue. 

This was the word after Ball bulldozed his way through Doheny, really cranking up the pressure from the sixth round until he was essentially landing power shots at will.

As the fight continued from there, Ball smothered Doheny with electric output until the referee called an end to the bout following a dominant 10th round which had the champion lighting the challenger up with heavy-handed blows.

The fight started off with great hostility as the intensity from Friday's weigh-in carried over when Ball actually kicked Doheny following the first round bell.

Ball was also penalized a point in the ninth round for tossing Doheny to the ground. Those indiscretions aside, Ball's performance propels him another leap forward to a life-changing fight opportunity.