By David Finger

Although almost all eyes in New Zealand are on the popular local boy Joseph Parker (21-0, 18 KOs) as he gets ready to take on fellow undefeated prospect Andy Ruiz (29-0, 19 KOs) for the vacant WBO heavyweight title, a unexpected fighter from the other side of the world is making waves of his own in Auckland. Undefeated Isaac “Royal Storm” Dogboe (15-0, 9 KOs) will take on Argentina’s Julian Evaristo Aristule (32-6, 16 KOs) Saturday night on the undercard of Parker-Ruiz fight in a bout for the WBO International super bantamweight championship. Aristule is the current WBO Latino super bantamweight title (which is also on the line on Saturday night) while Dogboe won the WBO Africa featherweight championship and WBO Oriental featherweight championship in his last fight back in August.

Photo: David Finger

Attracting attention from the international boxing community isn’t the easiest thing to do when you’re a kid from Ghana, but Isaac Dogboe has shown a knack over his career of making sure people pay attention. And since arriving two days ago in Auckland Dogboe has already made something of a name for himself with the locals.

“It’s great to be here,” Isaac Dogboe said of the welcome he received in Auckland. “And we would really love to come back here and fight against after our fight on Saturday night.”

He was most recently profiled by the popular local television show Seven Sharp on Channel 1, a surprising amount of coverage for an undercard fighter with no ties to New Zealand. But there is one thing that sports fan the world over love: personality. And Dogboe may have made up for his lack of name recognition by engaging in a charm offensive that rivaled his offense in the ring. After being awarded a plaque honoring him as the African champion of the year by the WBO, Dogboe wasted no time in calling for a title fight against featherweight champion Oscar Valdez during his acceptance speech. It was a brilliant PR move that brought his name to the forefront with the WBO and with the boxing community. But by the end of the day Dogboe and his father and coach had a new plan of action: move down in weight to super bantamweight and fight the WBO Latino champion…and do it on the undercard of the biggest fight in New Zealand’s history. Before the WBO convention ended Dogboe had performed his own Haka dance and posted it online, hoping that the move would help solidify the deal. It orked brilliantly and within weeks Dogboe was signed to fight in New Zealand.

But will all the talk about Dogboe, there is no question that Arisitule is a major step up for him. Aristule may also be somewhat unknown in New Zealand but he nonetheless has a reputation of being a tough southpaw with deceptive power. Not an easy draw for your first fight in a new weight division. He is also coming in on the heels of an eight fight win streak against solid competition in South America, including an impressive TKO over Fabian Oscar Orozco in February of last year. Noentheless Isaac Dogboe remained supremely confident.

“I fought southpaws before and I destroyed them,” Dogboe said of his opponent. “It’s not the first time. I’m going to go there in the ring and throw all my arsenal and I’m going to knock him out. I’m telling you this because I have confidence, I believe in God and I believe that we are prepared…we are more than ready. Come Saturday night he will be found wanting.”

There have been rumblings that the winner of the fight may be in line to fight for the super bantamweight title in 2017, something that is on the mind of both Dogboe and Aristule.

“That’s the reason we moved down,” Dogboe admitted. “Because the winner of the fight gets a title shot. It’s a big step.”

Dogboe also promised that the loss of four pounds will have little effect on his performance in the ring.

“I feel really good. (The) weight lost is going well. I lost the weight before we even came down. It’s not going to be no problem.”

But with a title fight looming and an international audience of millions set to watch his fight on Saturday night, there is no question that this is a major step for both fighters, something that doesn’t escape Isaac Dogboe.

“Saturday, that’s my make or break night,” Dogboe added. “And I’m definitely going to make it.”