FIGHT WEEK
Featherweight contenders Joet Gonzalez and Isaac Dogboe will face off in a title eliminator in Hinckley, Minnesota.
JOET GONZALEZ (25-2, 15 KOS) VS. ISAAC DOGBOE (23-2, 15 KOS)
- When: Saturday, July 23
- Time: 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
- Where: Grand Casino Hinckley, Hinckley, Minnesota
- TV/Stream: ESPN+
- Division: Featherweight (126 pounds)
- Rounds: 10
- At stake: No major titles
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: NA
- Also on the card: Gabriel Flores Jr. vs. Giovanni Cabrera, lightweights
- Prediction: Gonzalez UD
- Background: The main event is being billed as a WBC title eliminator. Gonzalez, ranked No. 4 by the sanctioning body, is a two-time WBO featherweight title challenger. He lost wide unanimous decisions to then-beltholders Shakur Stevenson in 2019 and Emanuel Navarrete last October. The 28-year-old from Los Angeles rebounded from the Navarrete setback by stopping Jeo Santisima in nine rounds in March. He was once a top amateur. Dogboe, ranked No. 5 by the WBC, is a former junior featherweight titleholder and apparently a rising star. However, back-to-back losses to Navarrete (UD and TKO 12) cost him his belt and his momentum. He has won his three fights since the second loss to Navarrete, an eight-round KO of Chris Avalos and majority decisions over Adam Lopez and Christopher Diaz. The Diaz fight took place in November. Dogboe fought for his native Ghana in the 2012 Olympics.
ALSO FIGHTING THIS WEEK
WEDNESDAY
- Knockout CP Freshmart vs. Wanheng Menayothin, strawweights (for CP Freshmart’s WBA title), Chonburi, Thailand (no TV in U.S.).
FRIDAY
- George Acosta vs. Isaac Avelar, junior lightweights, Ontario, California (Thompson Boxing YouTube and Facebook).
- Sergio Mendoza vs. Francisco Gomez, flyweights, Hermosillo, Mexico (Canela TV).
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