By Nick Skok:

Glendale, Arizona - Hidenori Otake (31-3-3, 14 knockouts) was going over the post-fight details inside his locker room when a member of the Japanese media asked the 37 year old championship contender about his plans now that he lost what is almost certainly his last title fight and quite possibly the last fight of his career.

“My feeling is that I’d like to continue and if I get the chance then I’d like to.” said Otake. “I want to think about it further.”

“I was very relaxed and in top condition when I entered the ring.” Once the action got underway Otake landed some initial shots that caught Dogboe flush and gave confidence to the visiting challenger. As they traded punches in the middle of the ring, Otake was floored.

Otake thought after getting initially knocked down “ah man, he caught me! I can still do this.” Knowing and training for the style on Dogboe, Otake continued “I was cautious of the hook but didn’t see it coming.”

“I like fighting on the inside but I would’ve liked to have got my ‘one-two’ going [from the outside].”

The fight was stopped at 2:18 and Otake was ready to continue fighting but didn’t question the stoppage initially, saying “I’ll have to go back and look at it [on tape].”

Kaneko Gym President and Otake’s promoter Kentaro Kaneko said afterwards that “Boxing is that kind of sport that when you get a champion like Dogboe with such a skillful feint and hook that there’s nothing you can do even after all the training.”

There’s no shame losing to a champion like Dogboe and especially after he proved that he wasn’t in town to dance. The Japanese warrior had never been stopped before and came to Arizona to fight. Otake went out blasting and he’ll always have the respect of a fighter who wasn’t afraid to challenge anybody for the chance at becoming champion.

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