By David Finger
Moments after WBO International Junior Featherweight champion Isaac Dogboe (17-0, 11 KOs) stopped the tough Argentine Javier Chacon in front of a raucous hometown crowd at the Bukom Boxing Arena in Accra, Ghana on July 22nd the young undefeated contender fired off a message for all of his haters.
“If you don’t love me now, don’t love me later!”
It was a clever and catchy phrase, but one that was entirely unnecessary. If his fight with Chacon in Accra showed anything it was this: Ghana loves Isaac Dogboe and they love him right now.
But he is still one major step away from fulfilling a promise to his fans and to himself. Although the Dogboe-Chacon fight was billed as “The Road to Vegas”, the fight wasn’t exactly a WBO eliminator. Dogboe, the WBO #4 ranked junior featherweight, is closer to his dream of a world title fight. But the road to Vegas still needs to pass one more hurdle: getting the winner of the upcoming Jessie Magdaleno-Cesar Juarez fight to sign on the dotted line. Neither Magdaleno nor Juarez is thinking about Dogboe, not when they have a fight on October 31, 2017 against each other. But Dogboe isn’t worried about where the “Road to Vegas” will be passing…only where it ends.
Isaac Dogboe took some time to talk to Fightnews about his recent victory over Javier Chacon as well as what his plans are in the coming months as he closes in on a world title fight.
Isaac, right off the bat, great win against Chacon. That would have to be your most impressive performance. How do you feel now, after the fight?
It was a great fight. The atmosphere was great the people came out. First and foremost I give glory to God for my victory. All my success, all came from above. It’s like a learning fight, you go into the ring, and you want to work on things. (The Chacon fight) was no different. You know the guy was strong, every time you hit him, you tag him to the jaw…he hits his glove and says “is that all?”
At any time were you ever bothered by Javier Chacon because it looked like you were in control from the start?
No, I was never bothered by anything he was doing. I knew that as time goes on it’s going to come. All I had to do was keep him under control, relax, and let the skills take over. That’s exactly what my dad said to me. There’s no need for you to engage in a brawl. Just go and box, show your skills, show your talent, show your footwork. And that’s exactly what I did. Although sometimes I kind of get carried away, my ego gets a bit of the better of me. But yeah, it was great, I really enjoyed the fight.
Chacon was a fighter who twice fought for a world title, and the fight against Chacon was billed as the battle for Las Vegas. That was a little bit of promotion but now that the fight is done do you see yourself fighting for a world title in your next fight?
Of course. In every situation, every opportunity that comes, you have to be able to grab it with both hands. I thank God for this victory and I believe that once the world title fight is on that God himself will be there once again. I just have to train for that fight and train for whoever wins out between Juarez and Magdaleno. It’s going to be a great fight; it’s just a matter of time.
One of the things about this fight was the support from the city of Accra and the entire nation of Ghana. Do you see yourself coming back to Accra in the near future for another super fight?
You have to take it a step at the time. It’s my first time fighting in that arena (the Bukom Boxing Arena) and that was the biggest crowd that arena has ever had so far. Like I said, we are bringing Vegas to Ghana. That’s exactly what we are doing. We are restoring Ghana’s lost pride in boxing. We are bringing the glorious days back. So right now, I’m very privileged to have the support of the nation. When we announced this fight a lot of people were scared because of the kind of opponent that Chacon was. But you have to fight good boxers: credible boxers. That’s what’s going to get people’s interest to come back.