Isaac Dogboe looking to go to ‘the next level’

Isaac Dogboe returns to action this coming Saturday on ESPN, when he makes the first defense of his WBO super bantamweight title against Japan’s Hidenori Otake, four months after knocking out Jessie Magdaleno in an action fight to win the strap.

Dogboe (19-0, 13 KO) says he’ll find a way to knock out the veteran challenger:

“We are moving up to the next level. I am over the thrill of winning the world title but now, this is a different page and I want this to be the first of many successful defences I will have. ... Otake is a predator, he is strong, he is rigid and rated by all the major sanctioning body so we are taking no chances. He comes to fight, he comes to knock you out so come August 25th, we will find a way to knock him out. He will become the prey that day.”

Dogboe, at 23, is 14 years the junior of Otake (31-2-3, 14 KO), who has won nine straight fights following a 2014 loss to Scott Quigg. That run has included a stint as OPBF champion. His only other loss was in a five-round fight way back in 2007.

On paper, it’s Dogboe’s fight to lose, and the Ghanaian showed a lot of personality and a lot of determination in beating Magdaleno. But stranger things have happened than a good veteran fighter outfoxing an aggressive young champion.