The first world title fight of 2018 barely went five rounds as Isaac Dogboe captured an interim WBO title in front of his home nation fans in Ghana.
Dogboe knocked down Juarez in the fifth round of their fight which was for the interim WBO super bantamweight title. This came after Juarez was knocked down in the second round. Referee Tony Weeks stopped the fight in favor of the African boxer after Dogboe battered Juarez with hard shots throughout most of the fight.
The last few months have not been kind to Juarez. He was originally going to headline a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card in November when he was supposed to challenge for the full WBO world title held by Jessie Magdaleno. Unfortunately for Juarez, Magdaleno suffered a wrist injury weeks before the fight and was ruled unfit to compete, canceling the fight. The WBO organized the interim title fight between Juarez and Dogboe in light of Magdaleno's injury.
Dogboe has fought the majority of his fights since 2015 in Ghana, winning numerous regional titles, including the WBO Africa, WBO Oriental and WBC Youth Silver featherweight titles in the process. Dogboe moved down in weight to super bantamweight in 2016 where he quickly rose up the ranks to be the WBO's No. 1 boxer in the division.
With the fight against Juarez over with, Dogboe said in a post-fight interview that he wanted to fight Magdaleno next. Magdaleno won't fight Dogboe next, however, as he'll defend his title on the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on March 10 against former world champion Scott Quigg.