By Ian S Palmer
Former WBO Super Bantamweight Champion Isaac Dogboe of Ghana returns to the ring this Saturday, November 20th when he meets Christopher Diaz of Puerto Rico. The 10-round featherweight bout is on the undercard of the Terence Crawford vs Shawn Porter event which will be shown on PPV in North America and on Sky Sports Arena in the UK. Dogboe last fought in June when he beat Adam Lopez by a 10-round majority decision for the NABF Featherweight Title. Diaz was stopped in the 12th round by WBO Champion Emanuel Navarrete in his last outing in April.
The 27-year-old Dogboe hails from Accra, but fights out of London, England and will climb into the ring with a fine mark of 22-2 with 15 Kos. He enjoyed a fine amateur career and boxed at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. He turned pro a year later and has boxed 152 rounds since then. He’s also won several regional and minor titles since turning pro including the West African Boxing Union, WBO Africa, WBC Youth Silver and WBO Oriental Featherweight Titles as well as the WBO International and WBO World Super Bantamweight Titles.
Dogboe won the interim WBO Super Bantamweight Belt in January, 2018 when he stopped Cesar Juarez in the fifth round. He then earned the full belt when he stopped former champion Jessie Magdaleno in the 11th round of a thriller just three months later after being dropped in the first round. He defended the title with a first-round stoppage over Hidenori Otake and then lost it by unanimous decision to Emanuel Navarrete in December 2018 and was stopped in the last round of their rematch five months later.
Dogboe stands 5-feet-4-inches tall with a 64-inch reach and has pretty good power with a 62.5 per cent knockout ratio. He also has wins over the likes of Chris Avalos, Javier Nicolas Chacon and Julian Aristule. He made a name for himself and burst on the international boxing scene after his very impressive performances against Magdaleno and Otake. He then showed a lot of fight and heart in both battles with Navarrete but has slipped below the radar slightly since then.
The 27-year-old Diaz is 26-3 with 16 Kos and also showed plenty of hear in his recent loss to Navarrete. He lost a unanimous decision to Japan’s Masayuki Ito for the vacant WBO Super Featherweight Championship in July, 2018 and dropped a 10-round unanimous decision to Shakur Stevenson for the vacant WBO NABO Featherweight Crown in April, 2019 for his two defeats. Diaz was born in Philadelphia, but the family moved to Puerto Rico when he was just a month old.
He turned pro back in 2013 after 187 amateur bouts and has boxed 156 rounds since. Diaz stands 5-feet-6-inches tall and has a 64-inch reach so is two inches taller than Dogboe with the same reach. Diaz has decent power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 55.2 per cent and likes to go to the body. Since turning pro he’s won the WBO NABO Super Featherweight crown and the WBO Youth Featherweight Title.
Diaz has also beaten the likes of Ray Ximinez, Fernando Vargas, Efrain Esquivias and Bryant Cruz. He’s an aggressive, action fighter who’d prefer to stop his opponent rather than leave it in the hands of the judges and that’s what makes him so fan friendly. He was also was named prospect of the year for 2016 by ESPN Deportes.
Prediction…
This could be an all-action fight between two boxers who are trying to earn another title shot. Both have tremendous heart and this is a tough fight to call because of it. A draw isn’t out of the question but if I have to give anybody a slight edge it would go to Dogboe due to his aggressiveness.
Dogboe’s young and aggressive.
