By Ian S Palmer
Original article: https://www.sportsbetlistings.com/boxing/nick-ball-vs-isaac-dogboe-betting-odds-and-prediction/22231/
Former WBO Super Bantamweight Champion Isaac Dogboe of Ghana takes on unbeaten Nick Ball of Liverpool, England in Manchester this Saturday, November 18th. The 12-rounder is listed as a WBC Featherweight Eliminator and can be seen live in America on ESPN+ while fans in the UK can catch it on TNT Sports 1. Dogboe last fought in April when he dropped a 12 round unanimous decision to Robeisy Ramirez in a shot at the vacant WBO Featherweight Title. Ball was last in the ring in May when he stopped Ludumo Lamatai in the 12th round to retain his WBC Silver Featherweight Belt.
The 29-year-old Dogboe hails from Accra, Ghana but fights out of Tampa, Florida now after residing in London, England for a while. He’ll climb into the ring with a fine mark of 24-3 with 15 Ko’s. He enjoyed a fine amateur career and boxed at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, turning pro a year later and boxing 184 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, WBO Oriental, WBO International, and NABF 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 as 62.5 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage but has gone the distance in his last four fights. Dogboe also has wins over the likes of Joet Gonzalez, Cristopher Diaz, Adam Lopez, Chris Avalos, Javier Nicolas Chacon and Julian Aristule. He made a name for himself and burst on the international boxing scene after his impressive performances against Magdaleno and Otake. He showed a lot of fight and heart in both battles with Navarrete and has bounced back with four wins in a row since losing to Navarrete.
The 26-year-old Ball enters the contest with a perfect mark of 18-0 with 11 Ko’s and has 78 rounds of pro experience to his name since making his debut in 2017. Prior to that he enjoyed a good amateur career which saw him box at the 2013 Great Britain Junior Championships. He measures 5-feet-2-inches tall with an unlisted reach so gives up two inches in height to Dogboe. He has good power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 61.1 per cent.
Ball has won five fights in a row by stoppage and 11 of his last 13 so has been a bit of a wrecking ball lately. That being said, 12 of his 18 opponents have had losing records when they entered the ring but his last six entered the squared circle with winning marks. He won the vacant WBC Silver Featherweight Title in April, 2022 when he stopped Isaac Lowe in the sixth round and has defended it three times against Nathanael Kakololo, Jesus Ramirez Rubio and Ludumo lamati, all by stoppage. Two of those wins came in the 12th and final round so it’s obvious Ball’s power is still evident late in fights.
Prediction…
For once, Dogboe has a bit of a size advantage here but his power hasn’t been evident lately while Ball’s has. Dogboe’s been through a lot of wars so it’s hard to tell how much he has left in the tank. He has far more experience than Ball at the top level but he’ll need to get off first, continue to let his hands go and hope his chin holds out. He also has to hope he doesn’t get ripped off by typical brutal judging in the UK. Either Ball is taking too big of a step up in class here or Dogboe has had too much taken out of him and he’ll be stopped. Dogboe’s just 29 years old though and if he’s at his best I think he’ll have enough left to take this fight and give him the close edge due to his experience and skill.
