Nick Ball vs Isaac Dogboe fight breakdown
WBC #1 featherweight Nick Ball (18-0, 11KO) clashes with former world champion Isaac Dogboe (24-3, 15KO) in a WBC final eliminator contest over 12 rounds.
The 126-pounders will meet in Manchester, at the AO Arena, this Saturday night, November 18, live on TNT Sports.
The stacked Queensberry card features seven title fights, but all eyes will be on Nick Ball with his fan-friendly, exciting style that never fails to offer value for money, but this time he is up against his toughest opponent yet.
26-year-old Ball has been steadily working his way up the rankings ever since his emphatic victory over Isaac Lowe in 2022, who was accompanied to the ring by close friend Tyson Fury, who knocked out Dillian Whyte in the main event later that evening at Wembley Stadium.
That was the fight that put the prospect firmly on the map after he went to war with Isaac Lowe in what became a bloodbath ending with a sixth-round stoppage to the devastating puncher, Ball.
And since then, he has continued to build his way up, with a dominant 12th round TKO over teak-tough Nathanael Kakololo; then followed his sensational first round knockout of once-beaten Jesus Ramirez Rubio, who as meant to be a risky opponent for his first ever headlining slot; then came his 12th round stoppage of former IBO World champion Ludumo Lamati in May this year, which saw the South African hospitalised for weeks after.
He is unbeaten in 18 bouts and currently enjoying a five-fight KO streak. What’s fascinating is that he has scored those stoppages in rounds one (twice), six and 12 (twice); so he has power in his hands at the start, middle and end of the fight.
His straight right is spectacular, using his left jab to set it up. Sometimes he will employ a throwaway jab only desiring to land the big backhand and sometimes he lands both 1-2 fully on the button. He also throws a lot of hooks and uppercuts and doesn’t like to be tangled up and restrained from using his fists. He has to land something every few seconds, there’s never a moment of inactivity, and despite this high pace of fighting, he reaches the 12th round looking like he can easily go another 12; his engine is extraordinary.
However, despite beating a former IBO World champion this will be Ball’s first ever fight up at world level.
Former WBO World super-bantamweight champion, Dogboe, is an aggressive pressure fighter, who likes to counter punch. He sometimes drops his lead left hand down low and is always looking to land his left and right hooks. He is very sharp, rhythmic and reactive, and puts his everything into every shot he throws.
He’s not often seen throwing jabs, opting to attack with powerful hooks, uppercuts and overhand rights. However, he does possess a sharp, swift jab, which he likes to double up on.
Ranked WBC #2, the Ghanaian has only lost once in his last five fights, but that’s not quite as impressive as it sounds because, apart from the eight-round TKO victory over Chris Avalos, all the other victories were mixed or split decisions, so he isn’t winning fights comfortably at the moment.
Against Adam Lopez, he was hurt more than once by the Californian, who really came on strong in the final rounds to completely dominate Dogboe, but he hadn’t done enough in the earlier rounds. That was followed by another mixed decision win; then his penultimate fight was scored even closer as a split decision. So in his last three wins, not every single judge was able to award him the win.
His last fight was a high-octane clash with the WBO World featherweight champion Robeisy Ramirez, who knocked Dogboe down in the final round, but it was more a case of clumsily tripping over his own feet when overreaching. The replay actually shows his left foot getting caught in the canvas as he tumbled over, but it was ruled a knockdown. Despite that, he was beating to the punch consistently by the sharper man.
His last victory against Joet Gonzalez was so close that one judge scored it 96-94 to Gonzalez and the other two went 96-94 for Dogboe, and the punch stats showed that the winner had fractionally outlanded the loser by 197 punches to 190.
In his penultimate win over 25-2 Christopher Diaz, it was more a calculated performance fought at mid-range as opposed to his usual aggressive infighting. Gonzalez started as more of a backfoot fighter, which is why they fought at wider range, but this won’t happen with Nick Ball. This pair will meet in the middle and fans will be treated to belated fireworks display.
In all his last three wins, Dogboe started brightly and got a foothold in the fight, and his trio of opponents all came back strongly but couldn’t overturn the early deficit, but each decision was razor-thin. Ball doesn’t take long to get going; he’s explosive from the first bell to the last. So, as soon as that ‘seconds out’ call is made, the rockets will be let off!
Betting Odds (Betway Sports)
Unbeaten Ball is the bookies favourite at 4/11 to win and ex-world champ Dogboe is 21/10. A draw at 18/1 odds is fairly low.
Predictions
I believe Isaac Dogboe is going to be extremely confident of winning this fight, knowing that he has campaigned at the higher level for a very long time, having shared the ring with Robeisy Ramirez and Emanuel Navarrette within his last half a dozen fights.
Nick Ball is still up and coming and hasn’t fought at world level ever before, despite being the WBC No.1, so Dogboe not only knows that he will be the hardest opponent Ball has ever faced, but he will also believe that he has been in with higher-level fighters than him lately.
If their styles and recent performances are anything to go by then fans should expect to see this pair meet in the middle and go to war. Neither fighter likes to take a backward step and both will land upon each other. Dogboe’s hooks are blisteringly fast and Nick Ball is always looking to land at every opportunity.
Ball has five KOs in a row and Dogboe has only scored one stoppage in the last five years. Expected to fight at a high pace in close quarters, it’s hard to envisage this contest going the full distance.
Verdict
Nick Ball to win by knockout late on in the fight with his higher aggression, better shot selection, and greater hunger. It will be a very close contest that could swing back and forth, but I think the stoppage will come during the championship rounds 10-12.
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