BOXING: Isaac Dogboe defeats Puerto Rican opponents Christopher Diaz with majority decision

Ghanaian boxer Isaac Dogboe edged closer to a world title shot after defeating Puerto Rican opponent Christopher Diaz with a majority decision in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

The Orthodox stance ring warrior out-pointed Diaz and won a debatable majority decision in a classic crossroads bout between boxers who’ve also been beaten by WBO featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete.

Dogboe picked up his pace after a slow start as he clearly dominated his opponents in the Terence Crawford-Shawn Porter undercard bout.

Judge Eric Cheek scored the action even – 95-95, but judges Tim Cheatham (96-94) and Don Trella (97-93) scored their fight for Ghana’s Dogboe at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino’s Michelob ULTRA Arena.

Diaz fighting for the first time since he suffered a loss against Navarrete in April 2021, went into the ring with ambitions similar to that of Dogboe as he was hoping to revitalise his career with a win by defeating the Accra-born fighter.

Dogboe tried to press Diaz during the 10th round, but he had trouble catching Diaz with flush punches. He landed a straight right in the final minute of the fight, though, and repeatedly threw hard shots at Dogboe’s body. Dogboe landed a counter left on the inside about 40 seconds into the ninth round.

A left hook by Diaz knocked Dogboe off balance with just over 20 seconds to go in the eighth round.

Approximately 10 seconds later, a clash of heads caused a brief break in the action and prompted Caiz to warn Dogboe for leading with his head. Out of a southpaw stance, Dogboe landed a straight left that backed up Diaz about 1:20 into the seventh round.

Dogboe had a very strong sixth round after having difficulty catching Diaz with flush punches in the first five rounds.

Barely 30 seconds into the sixth round, Dogboe landed a right hand that caused Diaz to hold him. With just under two minutes remaining in the sixth round, Dogboe drilled Diaz with a thudding left to his body.

With about 40 seconds to go in the sixth round, Dogboe landed another left to Diaz’s body and followed with a right hand up top that made Diaz retreat.

Diaz snapped back Dogboe’s head by landing a hard jab with just over a minute to go in the fifth round.