I nearly naturalized for England - Isaac Dogboe

Reigning WBO Super Bantamweight Champion, Isaac Dogboe has revealed to Ghanaweb.com that there was a time in his career that he contemplated on naturalizing for England and fighting under their flag.

But as fate would have it, his father’s overtures to boxing officials in Briton in the lead up to the 2012 Olympic Games fell on deaf ears, thus forcing him to look to the land of his parents, Ghana for opportunities.

“Truth is I was in the England Development squad and they sent me a letter to represent them, but my father said to them that they should let me fight Luke Campbell, who at the time was in my weight and was going to the Olympics. But then they were like no, we have invested so much in Luke Campbell already and we cannot afford to drop him in case your son to beat him. But what we can do is to let your son wait so he can go to 2016 Rio Olympics. But my father rejected the offer and contacted the Ghana Amateur Boxing President and at first, they were hesitant but later gave me a chance to come and justify to represent Ghana.”

The 23-year-old has become a formidable name in his weight division since turning pro in 2013.

Last month, Isaac Dogboe became Ghana's youngest ever boxing champion after knocking out Jessie Magdaleno in Philadelphia on April 29, making him the new WBO super bantamweight/junior featherweight titleholder.

In that fight, Dogboe recovered well from a first round knockdown to produce an outstanding performance to beat the title holder in front of a very hostile crowd.

Meanwhile, Dogboe who was recently crowned Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) Sports Personality of the Year, says he expects to be back in the ring to defend his World Boxing Organisation (WBO) super bantamweight title in two months’ time against a yet-to-be-named opponent and was looking forward to dominating the division in a bid to help restore Ghana’s glory in international boxing.

After being honoured with the SWAG topmost award last Friday, the 23-year old boxer said he hopes to be busy after being signed on by America’s premier boxing promotions, Top Tank, owned by Bob Arum.

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