GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Junior featherweight world titleholder Isaac "Royal Storm" Dogboe had a very tough fight when he won the 122-pound belt in April. He had no such issues in his first defense on Saturday night.
Dogboe overpowered Hidenori Otake, knocking him down twice and knocking him out in the first round of spectacular performance in the co-feature of the Raymundo Beltran-Jose Pedraza lightweight world title fight on the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card at the Gila River Arena.
Dogboe blitzed Otake, who had no answers for anything in the utter blowout.
"We knew we were coming in hot and that we were coming with the heat," Dogboe said. "I tried to take him out as quickly as possible. That was the plan -- to take him out."
Dogboe (20-0, 14 KOs), 23, of Ghana, won a junior featherweight world title on April 28 in Philadelphia when he knocked out Jessie Magdaleno in an enthralling fight of the year candidate. Dogboe survived a first-round knockdown and stormed back to drop Magdaleno in the fifth round and twice more in the 11th round for the victory. This time it was much quicker and way more ferocious.
Dogboe, a 2012 Olympian, who was at a four-inch disadvantage against the 5-foot-7 Otake, dropped him for the first time with a clean left hand to the head. Otake was flat on his back, and though he beat the count, his legs were unsteady and he looked glassy-eyed.
Dogboe did not relent. He went right after him, and when he nailed him with a right hand, Otake buckled and touched his glove to the canvas for the second knockdown.
When the fight resumed, Dogboe continued to pound him. He connected with several hard punches during a seven-punch flurry, including a brutal right uppercut that rocked him badly and forced referee Chris Flores to stop the fight at 2 minutes, 18 seconds.
"This was a great performance," Dogboe said. "I'm glad I got to showcase my skills on ESPN. I'm very thankful for the opportunity. I have a lot of respect for Otake for standing up after getting dropped. When I hit him with that powerful hook and dropped him the first time I felt the holy spirit."
Otake (31-3-3, 14 KOs), 37, of Japan, didn't look like he know what had hit him as his nine-fight winning streak came to an end since losing the only other time he fought outside of his home country -- a unanimous decision when he challenged then-junior featherweight world titleholder Scott Quigg in 2014 in Liverpool, England.
Dogboe, who made $65,000 to Otake's $25,000, didn't have a mark on him after the fight.
"I thought it was going to be a long rest after this fight because I thought we were in for a long fight, but given what happened, I'd like to get him in by the end of the year," Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti said of Dogboe.
Dogboe would like the opportunity to unify titles.
"Now I want to face all the champs. Let's do this! I'm ready to unify all the titles," he said. "I want all the champions out there, Rey Vargas, Danny Roman. Step up to the plate, let's make this happen. They should come forward and make a great fight. Champions should fight the best."
Mayer knocks out Kiss
Lightweight Mikaela Mayer, a 2016 U.S. Olympian, made her television debut and pummeled Edina Kiss in a third-round knockout victory. However, Mayer had an admission to make after the fight.
"I forgot I was on ESPN," she said. "At the end of the second round, I said, 'Holy s---, I'm on ESPN right now."
It was easy work for Mayer (7-0, 4 KOs), 28, of Los Angeles, who was all over Kiss from the opening bell.
Mayer knocked Kiss down with a straight right hand to the chin early in the first round and attacked her with abandon. Almost every time Mayer landed a solid shot she physically moved back the much smaller Kiss (14-8, 8 KOs), 28, of Hungary.
Mayer continued to batter her around the ring in the second and third rounds, and after the third round Kiss retired on her stool.
"When I looked into her eyes [at the start of the fight], I knew I would take it to her. She looked away," Mayer said. "And once my jab lands like it did, it sets everything up. My coaches are always on me to stay behind the jab, and I was so focused on that."
Kiss lost her third fight in a row, but the previous two were by decision. She fought for a women's junior featherweight world title in July 2017 but suffered a third-round knockout loss to Amanda Serrano.
Mayer's next fight is slated to take place on welterweight world titleholder Terence Crawford's next undercard on Oct. 13 in Omaha, Nebraska.
"I'm ready to go right back into camp," Mayer said.
Junior lightweight Robson Conceicao (9-0, 5 KOs), 29, a 2016 Olympic gold medalist from Brazil, battered tough Edgar Cantu (7-5-2, 1 KO), 25, of Laredo, Texas, en route to a shutout decision, 80-71 on all three scorecards. Conceicao pasted Cantu with clean punches throughout the fight but finally dropped him with a right hand in the sixth round. Yet, Cantu sopped up all the punishment and continued to march forward looking to land a big blow.
"Little by little I'm showing what I'm capable of doing inside the ring," Conceicao said. "I wanted to go the full eight rounds. This was my first time fighting to eight rounds, and I wanted to test myself. I felt great. I'm ready to fight more rounds in my next fight."
Featherweight Francisco "Panchito" De Vaca (18-0, 6 KOs), 23, of Phoenix, and Jesus Serrano (17-6-2, 12 KOs), 25, of Mexico, engaged in a bruising battle that featured nonstop action for eight rounds, after which De Vaca was declared the winner, to the delight of his hometown fans. He was 79-72, 78-73 and 78-73. They slugged it out toe-to-toe for virtually the entire second round and De Vaca dropped Serrano with a right hand in the fourth round.
"I'm happy with the win, but I felt I could've done better," De Vaca said. "Fighting in front of my hometown fans was really special. Serrano was a tough guy, and we put on a great fight for the fans."
Lightweight Antonio Lozada Jr. (40-2-1, 34 KOs), 28, of Mexico, who scored a massive upset on March 17 when he knocked out once-top prospect Felix Verdejo in the 10th round, fought to a draw with Hector Ambriz (12-7-2, 6 KOs), 22, of Mexico. Ambriz seemed to have the advantage over the first four rounds with Lozada coming on strong in the second half of the fight. In the end, one judge scored it for 78-74 for Lozada, one had it 79-73 for Ambriz and one had it 76-76.
Phoenix light heavyweight Trevor McCumby (24-0, 19 KOs), 25, out of action since November 2016 because of a suspension due to a failed drug test, returned to action by battering Jessie Nicklow (27-9-3, 9 KOs), 31, of Baltimore, in a third-round knockout victory. McCumby landed one thudding punch after another against the game Nicklow, but when he forced him to a corner and blasted him with a three-punch combination to the head in the third, referee Tony Zaino waved it off at 40 seconds.
"I'm happy with my performance. I got in there and got the win," McCumby said. "I could've boxed a little more, but it felt good to make my return and end it in style."
Junior featherweight Carlos Castro (21-0, 9 KOs), 24, of Phoenix, pounded out a lopsided decision over Diuhl Olguin (13-11-3, 9 KOs), 29, of Mexico, winning 80-72, 79-73 and 77-75.
Brennan Macias (3-0, 2 KO), 18, of Goodyear, Arizona, who is trained by Robert Garcia, scored a second-round knockout of Philip Adyaka (7-12, 4 KOs), 35, of St. Paul, Minnesota. He put him away with a clean right hand that flattened him and referee Tony Weeks waved it off at 3 minutes.
Egis Klimas-managed junior middleweight prospect Sagadat Rakhmankul (3-0, 1 KO), of 23, a Kazakhstan native fighting out of Oxnard, California, won a near-shutout decision over Christian Aguirre (7-3, 3 KOs), 22, of West Valley, Utah, in a hard-hitting fight. The result was never in doubt, however, and Rakhmankul won 60-54, 59-55 and 59-55.