'Horrible refereeing': Bizarre moment as boxer lashes out, kicks rival in world title fight

There was a truly bizarre moment early in former boxing world champion TJ Doheny's fight against Nick Ball, with the latter lashing out with a kick.

In the WBA featherweight world title bout on Sunday morning (AEDT), the veteran Irish star squared off against Ball in the main event of an event in Liverpool.

At the end of the first round, Doheny was up against the corner and had a hold of Ball, but it appeared as though he was attempting to untangle himself as the bell rang.

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However, once they were separated by the official, Ball threw a roundhouse kick to the back of Doheny's leg, who fell to the floor in some discomfort.

"Hang on a second, we need to have a look at this," the TNT Sports commentator said.

"It just started to flare up. He was started to hang on too long ... that's naughty."

Despite the rare nature of the incident - which was quite blatant - Ball managed to avoid being disqualified and was not docked a point by the referee.

The decision led to quite a strong reaction on social media.

In the ninth round, Ball was docked a point by the referee after for a foul - but it didn't matter as he continued to pour on the punishment.

Doheny's corner called the fight off after the 10th round, handing Ball the TKO victory.

The 38-year-old's career record now moves to 26-6, having lost against the likes of Sam Goodman and Naoya Inoue in recent years, while Ball remains undefeated.