WBO super bantamweight champion Isaac Dogboe is joining Top Rank Boxing and his next fight is set to take place on one of the biggest boxing cards on ESPN of 2018.
The announcement was made by Top Rank and Dogboe and the multi-year deal, while terms were unspecified, does call for Dogboe to fight at least three times a year.
Dogboe made a rapid ascent to the top of the 122-pound mountain. After winning the interim title back in January in his home country of Ghana, Dogboe would go on to defeat Jessie Magdaleno to win the full world title on an ESPN card in Philadelphia in April. Since then, Dogboe made one defense of the WBO title, which was a first-round knockout win over Hidenori Otake. That fight took place on the August 24 Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card which was headlined by Raymundo Beltran vs. Jose Pedraza for the WBO lightweight title.
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum told ESPN that he plans to travel to Ghana, where Dogboe is a big draw, to potentially set up a title defense from Dogboe in 2019.
The first fight in the new deal will have Dogboe fight a fourth fight this year, taking place on December 8 at Madison Square Garden. The card, which will be televised on ESPN, will feature a lightweight unification fight between Vasiliy Lomachenko and Pedraza in the main event. No opponent for Dogboe has been named.