The rematch was more of the same. Only this time, it ended earlier. Isaac Dogboe was too valiant and Emmanuel Navarrete simply too much.
Making the first defense of the WBO World Super Bantamweight title against the man he stole it from, Navarrete was dominant again, dropping Dogboe twice and battering him until his corner threw in the towel at 2:02 of the 12th and final round.
For Ghana’s Dogboe (20-2, 14 KOs), it was his second loss in a row, both against Navarrete. He was gracious afterward, but also suggested that he’d outgrown the division.
“Right now, I’d like to let everyone be aware that the super bantamweight division is very challenging for me to make weight,” Dogboe stated. “My next fight will be at featherweight, I believe I will be much stronger at that weight. It’s a struggle to make 122.”
One wonders if this logic makes sense as there are bigger fighters at featherweight. And it was size that hurt Dogboe against Navarrete as much as anything. The Mexican used his height and reach advantage to rain punches down on “Royal Storm” from all angles.
Final CompuBox numbers had Navarrete (27-1, 23 KOs) landing 314 of 884 total punches (35.5%) while Dogboe landed 121 of 523 total punches (23.1%).
“It really surprised me that he took so many hard shots, but at the same time, he continued to throw strong punches,” Navarrete stated. “I want to thank Dogboe because he gave me the opportunity to become a world champion, and now in this second fight, he gave me the opportunity to demonstrate that my first triumph wasn’t by accident and that there is a reason why I have the title.”
Indeed there was. Navarrete controlled the early rounds—and the fight—as he did in their first encounter last December, a title-winning effort where he won a 12-round unanimous decision.
The sequel featured more of the same. Navarrete was just as good fighting on the inside as he was on the outside, pounding Dogboe with short uppercuts in close quarters. At a distance, Navarrete rocked Dogboe with a right hand in the second.
He hurt Dogboe again in the third, courtesy of the right. The Mexican’s high workrate hindered the shorter Dogboe, who was able to land several hard rights upstairs, but could never hurt Navarrete.
Navarrete getting the best of Dogboe through 3 ?#NavarreteDogboe2 pic.twitter.com/vIWJzyqEmk
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) May 12, 2019
By the fifth, Dogboe’s eye was swelling shut, courtesy of Navarrete’s hard left hook. He would occasionally lead with that shot, catching Dogboe walking in. Other times, he used it as a counterpunch from medium to short range.
The cumulative punishment caught up with Dogboe in the sixth. A hard combination drove him backward and, ultimately, to the floor for the bout’s first knockdown. Dogboe gamely rose but never seriously threatened.
Navarrete scores the first knockdown of the fight! #NavarreteDogboe2 pic.twitter.com/QUne7L0xIX
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) May 12, 2019
Dogboe never seriously switched tactics despite being far behind. At times, he would move on the outside. But that only stifled his own offense and delayed the inevitable. After a particularly brutal ninth, father and trainer Paul Dogboe warned his son that he would stop the fight if he continued to get hit.
He should have lived up to his word.
Instead, Dogboe continued to eat shots in the championship rounds. A beautiful left hook followed by a long right dropped the bruised, fatigued Ghanaian for a second time. Navarrete appeared to hurt his right hand mid-volley, shaking it repeatedly as Dogboe struggled to his feet. Just as action was about to resume, the senior Dogboe mercifully threw in the towel.
A ringside look at the end of #NavarreteDogboe2 ? pic.twitter.com/99c4LU9hlT
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) May 12, 2019
No need for a third bout here as Navarrete established himself as the far superior fighter. Dogboe will likely move to 126, though not after some contemplation of what happened here.
