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FEATURE: Can a Lopez win land Dogboe another title shot?
Last Friday, Top Rank announced Isaac Dogboe’s return on their June 19 card to the excitement of many Ghanaian boxing enthusiasts.
It will be against an American prospect, Adam Lopez, in Las Vegas.
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The announcement was a good thing for Dogboe who hasn’t fought in 10 months since his eighth-round stoppage win over Chris Avalos last July.
Dogboe’s career has been on the low since those two consecutive defeats to nemesis Emanuel Navarrete. It took him over a year to get over those defeats which ended his world champion status.
The defeats were so bad that it destabilised his career to the extent that Dogboe considered retiring from the sport to concentrate on his education.
But he somehow managed to come back to the sport that made him a household name in Ghana. This time around, he had made many changes to his technical team.
His father and trainer Paul Dogboe, who is credited for his success right from amateur to the professional ranks, was replaced by US-based trainers Barry Hunter and Patrice Harris.
Dogboe also took over his managerial role and axed his father from his camp in a move which nearly caused a fracas between the pair.
However, the 25-year-old boxer is looking forward to reaping his benefit from the changes which started before his last fight with Avalos.
Avoid defeat
Since his two defeats to Navarrete, Dogboe cannot lose again at this point if he truly wants to become a two-time world titlist.
That is a very difficult task to achieve in a dicey sport but this is what champions do and I believe he has what it takes to maintain his winning streak.
Lopez is a good fighter but is yet to fight anyone of Dogboe’s calibre. I don’t think the bout will be a test for the Ghanaian but instead the American prospect.
With four world championship fights to his credit, I don’t expect Dogboe to struggle against a fighter like Lopez who is yet to make an appearance at the big stage.
Lopez is not a hard-hitting puncher like Dogboe and I expect him to struggle against the Ghanaian’s punching power in the ring.
Dogboe’s deficiency in his two professional defeats was his defence which Navarrete exploited to dethrone him as champion in 2018.
He now has a perfect opportunity to work in that area working with two of the best trainers in the US.
While Harris is a hall of fame trainer, Hunter was named in 2007 as the best trainer of the year by the WBO.
These two coaches have achieved so much that with their vast experience in the sport, Dogboe would have no excuse to fail working with them.
I believe it is just a matter of time for Dogboe to win another title and I am convinced that it won’t be long to achieve that.
World championship
A win over Lopez would get Dogboe closer to a shot at the world title and this is an opportunity he must not missed.
He has been there before and knows what to do to grab that chance. Dogboe did it in 2018 against all odds when he fought Jessie Magdaleno in his maiden title shot.
This time, the onus lies on him not to fail because the odds favour him. I am hopeful he will deliver because watching his last fight with Avalos, I realised there has been an improvement in his fight.
I expect to see a much better improvement in his fight considering the number of months he has spent with his new trainers.
Ghanaians will not only be watching but expect to see the glory days of Dogboe that got him some comparisons with the legendary Azumah Nelson.
But in all, determination is very key in achieving that and Dogboe has that right from the start of his career.
