WBO super-bantamweight Isaac Dogboe stamped his authority on the division. The London-based Ghanaian was tipped to beat Hidenori Otake in Glendale, Arizona but no one expected him to destroy the 37 year old Japanese veteran in the first round.
Otake afterall had gone the distance with Scott Quigg and has been on a nine-fight winning run since.
Dogboe set out with real intent. He got to work quickly, hammering blows round Otakeโs defences. Isaac lead with his left hook, blasting the punch round the Japanese fighterโs guard. Accurate, it landed with tremendous force and set Otake down heavily.
โWe knew that Otake was very strong,โ Dogboe said. โHeโs a pressure fighter, he just keeps coming forward. We knew that we had to come in hot.โ
Otake came straight back at him, steaming forward. But Isaac lashed him back. He fired a hard right down and the Japanese touched the canvas to get a second count.
On resumption Dogboe fired in another left hook, shifting Otake along the canvas. Isaac was shaking his challenger with heavy shots.
He set about Otake, looking for the finish, left hooks hooks hitting home and a final right uppercut screamed in. Referee Chris Flores leapt in to stop it at 2-18 of the first round.
โThe battle is always His, in all things all the glory belongs to almighty God,โ Isaac said afterwards. โI couldnโt wait to get back on ESPN.โ
He repeated his battle cry of โnehoโ. He explained, โSimply it means to uproot from the ground. Weโre going to take it at all costs.โ That is exactly what Isaac did.
Looking into the camera he addressed โall these other so called championsโ. โThey fail, they all fail to sign a contract. But the new kid is on the block,โ Dogboe said. โAll you world champions out there, come, letโs get it on.โ
โCome out, letโs do this. Arizona youโve been fantastic,โ he continued. โYou are the people.โ