Isaac Dogboe has a new team, new division, and still wants to be champion
Boxing is the only sport where it can take years to reach the pinnacle. However, the fall from grace can happen in a blink of an eye and your whole career could end up being an ESPN 30for30 special.
THE RISE
This is a cold, lonely, and harsh reality that several fighters have faced. Sometimes they come back, others they become trivia questions. This was the situation with former WBO super bantamweight champion Isaac “Royal Storm” Dogboe (20-2, 14ko).
The 25-year-old fighter from Ghana burst on the scene literally out of nowhere like a storm, dethroning then-champion Jessie Magdaleno (28-1, 18ko) to win the WBO title back in 2018. Furthermore, the victory fulfilled a lifelong dream and promise that was made to him by his father/trainer Paul Dogboe back when they used to do drills in the parks of London.
THE FALL
Royal Storm was on top of the world after a successful title defense. It seemed nothing was going to stop the former 2012 Olympian. However, this is boxing and it all came crashing down at the hands of unknown mandatory challenger Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete.
Normally two things happen to fighters after taking devastating losses; they can either go back to the drawing board or fade away into black.
THE ROAD BACK
It seems that the always-positive former champion is starting from scratch with a new team, trainers Patrick Harris and Barry Hunter. Furthermore, in an interview with Red Glove News, Dogboe displayed his faith wearing a cap saying ‘blessed’.
“I believe that you always have to go to the basics somewhere along the line. When you keep on going, going, going, and reach the top, you forget about the basics a little bit.”
“It’s really important that you get to your basics, you get back to doing the little things we ignore. Sometimes we just want to go out and bang – bang instead of putting the sweet science to the test.”
Dogboe hasn’t been back in the ring since losing the rematch back in 2019. However, he was set to fight April 2020 until COVID-19 shut down everything. Still believing he will wear some jewelry around his waist again, the question is: in what weight division?
“Either ending of June or mid-July, so we are looking forward to that.”
“I see myself winning another belt very soon. It could be any weight class.”
“I will tell you how it’s going to be; it’s either somebody is going to pull out of a fight and they’re going to call Isaac Dogboe. I’m going to go out there and knock the person out. It could be like that, or it could be I just take the fights that come and somebody will overlook me.”
By: Garrisson Bland
