Dogboe (middle) is flanked by a section of the fans that welcomed them in Arizona
World Boxing Organisation (WBO) junior featherweight (super bantamweight) world champion, Isaac Dogboe has arrived at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona in the USA for his first defence of the title.
Dogboe arrived on Monday in the company of his father and chief trainer, Paul Dogboe, a few relations and members of his technical team.
They were welcomed by a few Arizona based Ghanaian fans led by the owner of a popular food joint, Mukhaase Restaurant and known as Mr. Maxwell.
Dogboe will defend the title on Saturday against Japanese opponent, Hidenori Otake who coincidentally checked in at the same hotel 30 minutes before Dogboe arrived and asked of the whereabouts of the champion.
Otake is calm and an experienced boxer but considered one of the heaviest punchers in the division.
He boasts of an impressive 31 wins, 14 through the short route; suffered two defeats, the last against Scott Quigg in a similar championship but for the WBA belt. He has three drawn results to his credit as well, making him a credible opponent for the champion from Ghana.
But the younger and unbeaten Ghanaian champion insists Otake’s story will not be different from that of Jessie Magdaleno who he stopped in the 11th round to dethrone.
“It will be full of fireworks on August 25. The desert is scorching, it’s hot but the ‘Royal Storm’, the ‘Warrior of Africa’ and the ‘Brave son’ will take the heat to a different level for Otake. Otake is going down; we’ll shut the place down; we’ll knock Otake down,” Dogboe fumed in his latest video on Social Media.
His father/trainer, Paul told the Times Sports yesterday the camp remains optimistic of coming out victorious, hoping to pull up another magnificent feat against the Japanese.
“We are working very hard to get things done quickly. Otake won’t last; he won’t stand in our way because our dream is to get a unification bout with any of the champions in the other sanctioning bodies.”
He urged Ghanaians to watch the fight live on ESPN or download the new application on Android, RSTV, to watch the fight on their smart phones.
BY ANDREW NORTEY
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