Dogboe was never in control of the fight after being rocked by Ramirez in the early rounds before the Cuban dictated the tempo of a highly competitive fight in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the early hours of Sunday.

After 12 rounds of gruelling action, the judges were unanimous in their decision, scoring it 117-110, 118-109, 119-108 all in favour of the Cuban, who claimed the vacant WBO featherweight title.

The first sign of a long night in store for Dogboe came midway through round two. Ramirez landed a left hand around the high and tight guard of Dogboe, later followed by a left uppercut at close quarters. Dogboe was visibly affected by the shot, missing wildly with a reactionary right hand after which he wisely clinched to avoid further punishment.

Ramirez used more movement in round three. The Cuban southpaw constantly circled Dogboe and potshotted with left hands and right hooks. Dogboe enjoyed his best moment of the fight to that point when a right hand landed to the body after Ramirez overcommitted on a straight left.

Momentum quickly shifted back in favor of Ramirez early in round four. Dogboe was well short with his power shots while Ramirez fought behind the jab before landing a flurry of punches upstairs. Dogboe briefly caught Ramirez with a right hand and later launched a series of power shots beginning at the one-minute mark of round four, though all were picked off by Ramirez’s gloves during the sequence. Ramirez landed a jab and a straight left in the closing seconds, while Dogboe missed with a right hand.

Dogboe was urged by head trainer Barry Hunter to cease showing Ramirez more respect than necessary. Dogboe did his best to carry out those marching orders but couldn’t manage more than a couple of right hands early in round five. Ramirez kept everything tight down the middle, and even rode out and picked off a late flurry by Dogboe before the bell.

Ramirez continued to land the more potent blows and at the higher clip in round six. Dogboe walked in a straight line in an effort to land his right hand. He would eventually get through but not before he would get picked apart by straight lefts by Ramirez, who landed a startling 21-of-35 power punches in the round.

Dogboe connected with an overhand right that briefly froze Ramirez in place in the seventh. Ramirez recovered but offered a more defensively responsible approach throughout the rest of the frame. Dogboe switched to southpaw inside the final minute but it didn’t produce any favorable results.

Ramirez was momentarily forced to fight in reverse as Dogboe targeted the body in round eight. Ramirez settled down and landed a straight left to put Dogboe on his heels midway through the round.

The same trend developed for Dogboe in round ten. The squat former titlist began with good intentions but without landing anything of note. Ramirez simply moved to his left and positioned himself for straight left hands and the occasional combination straight down the middle. Dogboe picked up the pace late in the round but was mostly catching gloves or air.

Ramirez added to his lead in the proverbial championship rounds. Dogboe stood directly in front of the taller Ramirez, who slammed home a one-two down the middle. Dogboe remained upright, though it wasn’t the case in the twelfth and final round. A left hand by Ramirez produced the bout’s lone knockdown, which came at a point when he was seemingly well ahead on the scorecards.

Dogboe was forced to show mettle as the fight was badly out of reach. Ramirez landed a head-snapping left hand as he slickly dodged Dogboe’s power shots as the bout trickled toward the finish line.

Dogboe fell to 24-3 (15KOs) with the loss, his first since moving up to featherweight on the other side of the pandemic. All three defeats have come at the title level, though his past three wins all came down to majority or split decisions versus fringe contenders.

The charismatic Ghanaian has yet to recapture the magic that came with his brief yet explosive WBO junior featherweight title run. It remains to be seen where his career heads beyond Saturday evening, though there is concern that he has hit his ceiling at featherweight.

Agbeko, who won the IBF title twice and the IBO once in the bantamweight division, explained that his proposed route will give him bigger bargaining power if he inevitably has to face Navarette a third time.

Isaac Dogboe’s win against American Joet Gonzalez last weekend in Minnesota has placed him at the number one contender position in the WBO rankings. This has earned him a ticket to a fight with WBO featherweight Emmanuel Navarette and has placed him at least a fight away from challenging the current WBC featherweight champion, Rey Vargas.

“I think it will be good for him to go to the WBC. After Azumah Nelson and Nana Yaw Konadu won WBC titles for Ghana no other boxer has. Whenever you lose your last fight it keeps hunting you. I will prefer the WBC champion and definitely, he will win it.”

“Financial benefit-wise, it will go higher if he goes in as a WBC champion against Navarette for a unified championship. Also, Navaratte will give him a lot of respect because he has bounced back to become a champion after the losses and will make it easier for him to become a unified champion,” he told Joy Sports.

Agbeko also commended Dogboe’s team for all the hard work in the background and is impressed with the boxer’s levels of improvement in-ring skill.

WBC title dynamics

Dogboe is currently fighting, one place behind Joet Gonzalez who he defeated via a split decision. The Ghanaian is expected to move at least one place up meaning he would have number one contender Gary Russell Jr (31-2, 18kos) and number two contender Brandon Figuera (23-1-1, 18 Kos) to deal with.

The latter for instance won his last bout via a TKO while the former lost his last bout in January this year. So in the worst-case scenario, there should be at least two more fights for each Dogboe, Russell and Figuera to land a date with Rey Vargas if he remains the champion.

WBO title Dynamics

Ahead of the win against Joet Gonzalez, Dogboe was in the number two contender position while the former was number one. By this result, the next updated rankings by the WBO will have the Ghanaian exchange places with Joet Gonzalez. Automatically Dogboe will have to challenge Navarette for the WBO title which the Mexican has held since his third bout in the featherweight division. This is also dependent on whether or not Navarette is successful with his title defence against Eduardo Baez (21-2-2) on August 20 in San Diego. The Mexican nicknamed El Vaquero (Herds Boy) annexed the then vacant title in 2020 after stopping previously undefeated Ruben Villa.

Meanwhile, Dogboe has indicated that he is ready for all the champions in the division.

Ahead of the win against Joet Gonzalez, Dogboe was in the number two contender position while the former was number one. By this result, the next updated rankings by the WBO will have the Ghanaian exchange places with Joet Gonzalez.

Automatically Dogboe will have to challenge Navarette for the WBO title which the Mexican has held since his third bout in the featherweight division. This is also dependent on whether or not Navarette is successful with his title defence against Eduardo Baez (21-2-2) on August 20 in San Diego. The Mexican nicknamed El Vaquero (Herds Boy) annexed the then vacant title in 2020 after stopping previously undefeated Ruben Villa.

Meanwhile, Dogboe has indicated that he is ready for all the champions in the division.

The North America Boxing Federation (NABF) Featherweight titlist, Isaac “The Royal Storm” Dogboe will this Saturday battle with the Glendora-born Joet Gonzalez for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) International Featherweight title.

The winner between Dogboe and Gonzalez will be in line to face Mexico’s Ray Vargas who holds the World Boxing Council (WBC) World Feather title after beating Mark Magsayo via a split decision a week ago.

This bout presents Isaac Dogboe with a huge opportunity to edge closer to his dream of becoming a two-division world champion. Interestingly, Joet Gonzalez is also highly spirited for his first ever World title after losing two world title bouts against Shakur Stevenson and Emanuel Navarrete in 2019 and 2021 respectively for the WBO world featherweight title.

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Knowing very well they’re both a win away from securing a date with Ray Vargas for the WBC strap, the WBO International Featherweight strap may not matter much to them as they keep their eyes on the ultimate.

The ‘Royal Storm’ Dogboe looks more hungry going into this fight and must therefore keep his focus and not underestimate Gonzalez who has contended for a world title twice despite being defeated on both occasions.

The fight is promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank and Cory Rapacz’s Rapacz Boxing scheduled to be aired on ESPN+. The main card will start at 10:00 P.M. ET and the main event should begin around 11:30 P.M. ET, depending on how long the undercard fights last.

Dogboe’s two professional career defeats have come against Navarrete in back to back fights, the first of which culminated in the Ghanaian losing the WBO Super bantamweight strap in 2018.

Both Dogboe and Navarrete have since moved up in weight. The Mexican relinquished the super bantamweight strap and moved up to featherweight after four title defenses while Dogboe has had two fights in the division. The Ghanaian currently holds the North American Boxing Federation Featherweight title.

With the Ghanaian making no secret of his ambition to become a two-time world champion and with Navarrete currently holding the WBO featherweight title, the two men are likely to cross paths for the third time.

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Speaking on the Joy Sports Link on Joy 99.7 Fm, Dogboe said the defeat against Navarrete was painful but it was a learning curve. He added that although his Mexican nemesis is not his focus at the moment he knows a third fight is very possible because they both operate in the same division.

“Navarrete is the only fighter that has beaten me in my boxing career. It doesn’t offend me even though it is painful. It’s the nature of the business.

“Navarrete and I are in the same division. There’s a possibility we could fight again. I don’t know when but it may happen. If it happens I know where I went wrong. I know the things that went wrong and I know the team I’m working with right now. They know my strength and my weaknesses. We’ve weighed Navarrete but he isn’t my main focus,” he said.

Dogboe made this known over the weekend through his social media page.

It is unclear what might have prompted the former world champion to put out such a strong statement on his official Twitter handle.

“I am going to make sure that some individuals at the Sports Ministry go to jail mark my words,” he tweeted.

Dogboe last fought in July 2020 but has recently spoken of his intent to stage a bout in Ghana in the near future.

He has also recently confirmed that he has permanently parted ways with his dad, Paul Dogboe as his trainer but maintains that the decision is mutual and that all parties have a common objective.

Dogboe lost his world belt to Mexican champions, Emanuel Navarrete.

It is not clear what the young boxer may currently be going through but his post seems all may not be well with him.

In a latest social media activity, his post has come to many as a ‘suicide or depression notice’.

“I wait for the day I take my final breath and bid farewell to the world ??… and I hope when that day comes you won’t be sad ❤️❤️❤️, ” he tweeted.

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His post has generated mixed reactions with many asking if he is alright amid prayers for him.

Others have also encouraged him to keep his head up as always.