Isaac Dogboe pulls out split decision over Joet Gonzalez

Isaac Dogboe and Joet Gonzalez put on a back-and-forth boxing contest, but Dogboe narrowly edged the victory over Gonzalez by split decision. 

Isaac Dogboe vs. Joet Gonzalez looked great on paper before their July 23 boxing bout, and the reality lived up to the hype. Two of the best featherweights in the world gave fans at the Grand Casino in Hinckley, MN, a fight to remember, but Dogboe barely surpassed Gonzalez on the judges’ scorecards.

In the 10-round main event of Top Rank’s card on ESPN+, no knockdowns were scored, but Gonzalez and Dogboe took turns dispensing some wicked combinations in a contest of wills that came down to the wire.

Dogboe (24-2, 15 KOs) jumped out on Gonzalez early. Under the tutelage of Barry Hunter, Dogboe looked elusive and counter-punched well. He fought a disciplined fight, but Gonzalez started to break through in rounds 4 and 5.

https://twitter.com/trboxing/status/1551046505187815432?s=20&t=7131pbVX6LKrUdmRpySQ3A

Gonzalez (25-3, 15 KOs) had spurts of energy where he pinned Dogboe to the ropes and unloaded with body punches and uppercuts. Gonzalez’s best punch was his left lead uppercut, which looked to hurt Dogboe several times throughout their bout.

Isaac Dogboe received two scores of 96-94 from the judges to win his WBO featherweight title eliminator against Joet Gonzalez

Gonzalez looked like he was going to take over the fight from the mid rounds on, but Dogboe surged in the final rounds. They traded down the stretch, but the judges saw Dogboe as the winner.

https://twitter.com/trboxing/status/1551052835323772928?s=20&t=7131pbVX6LKrUdmRpySQ3A

One judge had the match for Gonzalez at 96-94 but was overruled by two scores of 96-94 for Dogboe. Dogboe is now the mandatory challenger for the WBO featherweight title held by Emanuel Navarrete.

Dogboe has two losses on his record, and both came from Navarrete. Dogboe dropped the WBO super bantamweight title to Navarrrete in 2018 by unanimous decision but was stopped in round 12 of their rematch five months later.

Gonzalez also fought Navarrete and lost. He lost a unanimous decision to Navarrete in 2021. Gonzalez is a fantastic boxer who is tough as nails but has come up short three times against elite champions.

Dogboe is now in line for a trilogy matchup against Navarrete and appears to be a more skilled boxer today than he was then. Time will tell if a title shot is in the cards for Dogboe next.