Junior featherweight world titleholder Isaac “Royal Storm” Dogboe had a very tough fight when he won the 122-pound belt in April 2018. He had no such issues in his first defense on Sunday dawn.
Dogboe overpowered Hidenori Otake, knocking him down twice and knocking him out in the first round of spectacular performance in the co-feature of the Raymundo Beltran-Jose Pedraza lightweight world title fight on the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card at the Gila River Arena.
Dogboe blitzed Otake, who had no answers for anything in the utter blowout.
“We knew we were coming in hot and that we were coming with the heat,” Dogboe said. “I tried to take him out as quickly as possible. That was the plan — to take him out.”
Dogboe (20-0, 14 KOs), 23, of Ghana, won a junior featherweight world title on April 28 in Philadelphia when he knocked out Jessie Magdaleno in an enthralling fight of the year candidate. Dogboe survived a first-round knockdown and stormed back to drop Magdaleno in the fifth round and twice more in the 11th round for the victory. This time it was much quicker and way more ferocious.
Dogboe, a 2012 Olympian, who was at a four-inch disadvantage against the 5-foot-7 Otake, dropped him for the first time with a clean left hand to the head. Otake was flat on his back, and though he beat the count, his legs were unsteady and he looked glassy-eyed.
Dogboe did not relent. He went right after him, and when he nailed him with a right hand, Otake buckled and touched his glove to the canvas for the second knockdown.
When the fight resumed, Dogboe continued to pound him. He connected with several hard punches during a seven-punch flurry, including a brutal right uppercut that rocked him badly and forced referee Chris Flores to stop the fight at 2 minutes, 18 seconds.
“This was a great performance,” Dogboe said. “I’m glad I got to showcase my skills on ESPN. I’m very thankful for the opportunity. I have a lot of respect for Otake for standing up after getting dropped. When I hit him with that powerful hook and dropped him the first time I felt the holy spirit.”
Otake (31-3-3, 14 KOs), 37, of Japan, didn’t look like he know what had hit him as his nine-fight winning streak came to an end since losing the only other time he fought outside of his home country — a unanimous decision when he challenged then-junior featherweight world titleholder Scott Quigg in 2014 in Liverpool, England.
Dogboe, who made $65,000 to Otake’s $25,000, didn’t have a mark on him after the fight.
“I thought it was going to be a long rest after this fight because I thought we were in for a long fight, but given what happened, I’d like to get him in by the end of the year,” Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti said of Dogboe.
Dogboe would like the opportunity to unify titles.
“Now I want to face all the champs. Let’s do this! I’m ready to unify all the titles,” he said. “I want all the champions out there, Rey Vargas, Danny Roman. Step up to the plate, let’s make this happen. They should come forward and make a great fight. Champions should fight the best.”
Source : ESPN
