WBO News: Officials Named for Beltrán-Pedraza and Dogboe-Otake World Title Bouts This Weekend

The World Boxing Organization (WBO) announced the officials for two WBO World title bouts to be held this Saturday, August 25th in Arizona.

In the main event, WBO Lightweight (135 lbs) World Champion Raymundo Beltrán, from México, will face WBO ranked number two José Pedraza, from Puerto Rico.

For this bout, which will headline the card presented by Top Rank from the Gila River Arena in Glendale, the referee will be Tony Weeks, from the United States.

Arizona’s Rubin Taylor, as well as Lisa Giampa and Robert Hoyle, both from Nevada, were appointed judges for the bout. The WBO Supervisor will be WBO President Francisco “Paco” Valcárcel, Esq.

For Beltrán (35-7-1, 21 KOs), it will be his first defense of the title he won by beating WBO Africa Lightweight titlist Paulus Moses via unanimous decision. On his part, Pedraza (24-1, 12 KOs) is looking to be crowned a two division World Champion with a victory over Beltrán. He previously held a title as a Junior Lightweight (130 lbs).

Photo: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

In the co-main event of the evening, WBO Junior Featherweight World Champion Isaac Dogboe, from Ghana, will battle WBO ranked number six Hidenori Otake (31-2-3, 14 KOs), from Japan.

For this bout, the referee will be Chris Flores, from the United States.

Illinois’s Patrick Morley, Texas’s Javier Álvarez and Connecticut’s Glenn Feldman were appointed judges for the bout. The WBO Supervisor will be WBO Vice-President North America/Chairman of North American Boxing Organization Richard de Cuir.

For Dogboe (19-0, 13 KOs), it will be his first defense of the title he won by defeating former WBO World Champion Jessie Magdaleno by 11-round knockout.

Beltrán-Pedraza and Dogboe-Otake will air live on ESPN and ESPN Deportes at 10:30 p.m. ET, with undercard action streaming live beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET. on ESPN+ — the recently-launched multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer & International segment in conjunction with ESPN.