Daniel Roman defeats Ireland's TJ Doheny on points in unification clash in Los Angeles

Daniel Roman floored TJ Doheny twice to earn a majority decision victory as the Californian unified the IBF and WBA super-bantamweight belts in Los Angeles.

The American dropped Ireland's Doheny in the second and 11th rounds, but the previously unbeaten IBF champion had spells of success during an exciting encounter, with one judge scoring it a 113-113 draw, while the two other officials scored it 116-110 for Roman.

In a cagey opening round, Doheny sized up Roman with accurate straight left hands from his southpaw stance.

But Roman exploded into life in the second, flooring Doheny with a left hook that sent the Irish fighter slipping to the canvas by the ropes.

Doheny recovered well, although Roman was menacingly closing the range to unload his powerful punches in the third and he ripped through a big right hand in the fourth.

A swelling had risen over Doheny's right eye, evidence of Roman's work, but he answered with crisp counters in the fifth round and began to land his left hand with regularity in the sixth.

Doheny would stage a determined assault in the seventh, troubling Roman with those accurate left hands and bundled his opponent to the canvas, only for the referee to rule out a knockdown.

Bouncing on his heels, Doheny displayed his growing confidence with an uppercut in the eighth, but Roman responded with an uppercut of his own in the ninth to dip the legs of his fellow champion.

Into the closing rounds, Roman tried to gain the judge's attention with sustained aggression and Doheny was floored by a crunching body shot in the 11th.

Doheny bravely stood firm, ending the fight strongly in the final round, but was unable to close the gap on two of the scorecards.