Friday, July 22, 2022

Boxing Challenge

     The boxing weekend is relatively sparse this week with one card from Hinckley, Minnesota on ESPN+ with two very intriguing 50/50 fights at the top of the card.

The main event is a WBO eliminator at featherweight with two-time title challenger Joet Gonzalez squaring off against former WBO junior featherweight champion Isaac Dogboe.

Gonzalez lost a lopsided decision to Shakur Stevenson for the then-vacant WBO title, and a closer but clear decision loss for the same bet to Emanuel Navarrete last October, taking a severe pounding in the process.

Since the loss to Navarrete, Gonzalez returned with an impressive ninth-round stoppage of Jeo Santisma in March, looking nonetheless for wear.

Dogboe looked headed for potential stardom when he stripped highly thought of champion Jessie Magdaleno of his WBO 122-pound title by brutal eleventh-round knockout in 2018 and after a title defense that ended with Dogboe scoring a first-round KO, Dogboe was favored over Emanuel Navarrete but lost his title and the rematch (decision and final round knockout) in consecutive fights.

Dogboe has all won all three of his fights since rising to featherweight against solid but not outstanding opponents (Chris Avalos, Adam Lopez, and Christopher Diaz) and hasn't looked like the same fighter that plowed over Magdaleno so impressively.

I lean toward Gonzalez slightly as the naturally larger fighter and the more versatile of the two but I could easily see Dogboe winning as well in what could be a very entertaining battle.

The co-feature is just as interesting with a lightweight battle between unbeaten Giovanni Cabrera and the once heavily-touted and once-beaten prospect Gabriel Flores.

Flores was the youngest boxer ever signed by Top Rank when the Arum bunch signed him at the age of sixteen and seemed to be steaming his way to contender status when Flores stopped former title challenger Jayson Velez in six rounds in early 2021.

However, Flores took a fearful battering last September against Luis Lopez in losing a decision that saw many calling for the Flores corner to stop the fight in the late rounds to save the young prospect from the prolonged punishment that Lopez would dish out.

Flores returned in March and barely squeaked out a majority decision over Abraham Montoya that was heavily jeered by the fans in Flores's hometown of Fresno with Flores barely able to be heard over the boos in his post-fight interview.

The undefeated Cabrera has looked strong in his two 2022 wins, including a decision win over power-punching Rene Tellez Giron that was a mild upset.

Neither of the two is a strong puncher with Cabrera scoring only seven knockouts in his twenty wins and Flores scoring seven in his twenty-one victories, so this looks very likely to go the ten-round distance.

This may not be a card with the biggest stakes in these two fights but they are two well-matched fights without a strong favorite in either bout and should be an entertaining evening of boxing.

Boxing Challenge

Featherweights 12 Rds 
Joet Gonzalez vs Isaac Dogboe
Ramon Malpica and TRS: Gonzalez Unanimous Decision
Vince Samano: Gonzalez Split Decision

Lightweights. 10 Rds
Giovanni Cabrera vs Gabriel Flores
All: Cabrera Unanimous Decision 

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