.. At Olympic Games, World Titles Experience And Advice To Parents On Boxing
Isaac ‘Royal Storm’ Dogboe who announced his surprise retirement from boxing on Instagram September 1, 2026 spoke to the media on why he retired so early from the sport and his best memories.
According to Dogboe aka ‘Neho’, he had to pursue other things and never regrets getting into the ring to box.
He urged parents to encourage their kids to try boxing because it gives discipline, responsibility and other important characteristics.
He said boxing gave him a lot of positive attributes as he was very aggressive while growing up, but boxing calmed him down.
Dogbe share his three best moments in boxing as when he first fought in Ghana at the Bukom Boxing Arena which was massively attended, winning the WBO title and experience at the 2012 Olympic Games.
He expressed that the Olympic Games taught him a lot of things as he could not win a medal, so he focused much to winning a world title before calling it quits.
Dogboe represented Ghana at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where he competed in the bantamweight (under 56kg) division when he was only 17 years old, making him the youngest boxer at the 2012 Games.
His Olympic journey concluded in the first round following a highly controversial bout:
He faced an older and more experienced Satoshi Shimizu of Japan.
Dogboe aggressively dominated the first two rounds, leading on the judges’ scorecards (4–3 and 3–2). Despite his strong start, the judges heavily scored the third round 5–2 in favour of Shimizu. This overturned Dogboe’s lead, handing him a 10–9 final defeat.
The decision was met with heavy booing and jeers from the crowd at the ExCeL Arena, with many fans and pundits feeling that Dogboe was unfairly robbed of the victory.
Though his Olympic campaign was cut short, the experience served as a launchpad for his career. He turned professional the following year in 2013 and went on to fulfill his potential by becoming the WBO junior-featherweight world champion in 2018
He thanked his parents, especially his dad, Paul, a military officer who was his trainer, technical team and management as well as sponsors and the church.. He attended the Apostles Revelation Society (ARS) with headquarters inTadzewu, Ketu North Municipality, Volta Region.
“We were able to bridge the gap between the boxing, business and religion which was very good” he said.
According to Isaac Dogboe, there are some few boxing talents coming up in Ghana who must be guided to reach the top.
He said despite the lack of financial resources one must still strive to make it, because the end justifies the means.
“For me money is not everything, the glory is more important so I was focused and committed to achieve something significant in boxing” he noted.
He hinted pursuing new things in life and hopes to be remembered among the super stars in Ghana Boxing.
WBO World Champion: he won the WBO super-bantamweight title on 28 April 2018 by stopping Jessie Magdaleno in the 11th round at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Record Holder: Became Ghana’s youngest-ever boxing world champion at age 23 and won the prestigious SWAG Sports Personality of the year.
Title Defense: he successfully defended his belt against Hidenori Otake before losing the title and a subsequent rematch to Mexican Emanuel Navarrete.
Isaac Dogboe announced his official retirement from professional boxing in September 2026 after a 13-year career.
He plans to stay involved in the sport by helping with youth development and mentorship in Ghana.
By Sammy Heywood Okine