Paul Dogboe, father and trainer of Isaac Dogboe, says his son lacked fitness in losing his WBO world super bantamweight title to Mexico’s Emanuel Navarrete last Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Paul, who apologized to Ghanaians for letting the nation down, blamed this lack of fitness of his son not having adequate preparation for the bout due to travels and other engagements.
Dogboe suffered his first professional career loss to Mexico’s Navarrete via 12-round unanimous decision in a bout that shook up the boxing world. The lanky Navarrete was in fine form, working Dogboe over from the outside and swelling his face as the increasingly one-sided rounds progressed. It was a dominant performance by the Mexican.
In a video posted on social media platforms, Paul noted that the entire Team Dogboe met to discuss the best way forward after suffering their first defeat and promised to come back stronger.
He explained that losing a bout was part of the sport and it will help in strengthening Isaac in his bid to become a multiple weight champion.
“I want to take this opportunity to apologize to the entire nation for letting them down,” he said.
I think we underrated him and paid the price. We learnt our lessons because then we wanted to take him out in five rounds but our game plan failed. The fact is that we didn’t really prepare well like we do ahead of every fight and it affected him.
“You could see in most of the rounds that Isaac’s legs were gone and it was up to fitness but we are keen on coming back stronger,” he continues
The loss means Dogboe (20-1, 14 KOs) will have to work his way back to the top and leaves the country without a world champion heading into the new year. A rematch may be likely for the new year, although some have advised Dogboe to take an interim bout first.
