TABANAO IN CRUCIAL BATTLE VS. DOGBOE
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 26 Aug 2016
WBO Oriental featherweight titlist Neil John Tabanao (13W-1L,9KO?s) of the Philippines is set for the most important fight of his four year professional career this August 26 against WBO Africa featherweight title-holder Isaac Dogboe (14W-0L,9KO?s) of Ghana at the Police Officer?s Social and Fitness Centre in Accra, Ghana.
This fight will enable the winner to move up the rankings of the World Boxing Organization (WBO). The August 2016 rankings of the WBO has Dogboe at number 12 and Tabanao at number 15 in the 126 lb division. The reigning WBO world featherweight champion is Oscar Valdez (20-0,18KO?s) of Mexico.
Dogboe and Tabanao will also dispute the vacant WBC Youth featherweight title and will be an added boost to the world ranking of the winner. Tabanao is accompanied by veteran trainer Brix Flores.
Flores informed this writer that the adversaries weighed an identical 124.8lbs during the official weigh-in.
The 22 year old Tabanao?s biggest career win so far was against the erstwhile undefeated Ibrahim Balla, who was stopped by Tabanao in three rounds last June for the WBO Oriental belt. Balla was also the reigning Australian featherweight champ.
The 21 year old Dogboe represented Ghana as a teenager in the 2012 London Olympics. Last year, he garnered the West African Boxing Union and WBO Africa featherweight belts.
The most distinguished world boxing champion from Ghana is the legendary Azumah Nelson, who held the WBC featherweight and WBC super featherweight crowns. Filipino fight fans are also familiar with another Ghanaian boxer,Joshua Clottey, who lost a one-sided unanimous decision to Manny Pacquiao in WBO welterweight world title bout in 2010.
For the boxing fans and scribes in the Philippines who are awaiting the result of this fight, take note that Manila time is 8 hours ahead of Accra.
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