Dogboe Scrapes By Diaz In a Close and Competitive Affair
At the Mandalay Bay Resorts & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, Isaac “Royal Storm” Dogboe and Christopher “Pitufo” Diaz battled it out in a critical ten-round featherweight contest. This fight had all the ingredients of being a fan-friendly affair as both men were heavily motivated. The irony here is that each fighter shares something in common; they lost to two-division world champion Emanuel Navarrete.
A former WBO world junior featherweight champion, Dogboe is on a two-fight win streak since losing that title to Emanuel Navarrete in December 2018, and a subsequent rematch in May 2019. Now competing at 126 and ranked third by the WBO, “Royal Storm” got a tough majority decision victory over Adam Lopez in his last outing. Dogboe has ultimate aspirations of becoming a world champion at 126.
Ranked eleventh by the WBO, Diaz has fought for a world title twice previously. The last time “Pitufo” was in the ring, he was on the devastating end of a twelfth-round stoppage defeat in April of 2021 to Navarrete, who is now the current WBO featherweight champion Navarrete. His goal is to shake off the effects of that brutal loss and work his way back into world title contention.
A BATTLE OF STYLES
Diaz (26-4, 16 KOs) prefers to fight from distance rather than stand and deliver. He began matters utilizing the jab and footwork to create room for himself and box. It was a tricky dance for Dogboe (23-2, 15 KOs). He needed to get inside and work the body but do so without exposing himself to getting countered. The legs, hand speed, and skills of Diaz were the differentiating factors early on.
During the middle, and into the later rounds, Diaz began to fight more in the center of the ring. That allowed the former junior featherweight champion to get home with shots of his own. Dogboe was able to get off with his combinations to the head and body. But Diaz was giving as good as he was getting. The action was not riveting. Instead, this fight was more of a back and forth, competitive chess match.
In the end, the judges scored the contest in favor of Dogboe by majority decision (95-95, 96-94, 97-93). This fight could’ve gone either way. However, this reporter scored the fight 96-94 in favor of Diaz. For Dogboe, this win sets up what he hopes is another world title run in 2022. As far as Christopher Diaz is concerned, this has to be considered a major setback.
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By: Michael Wilson Jr.
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