By Cliff Rold

It wasn’t quite the barnburner their first contest was.  That turned out to be to the advantage of the victor.  Boxing smart and showing great determination, Ghanaian 30-year old Joseph Agbeko (28-2, 22 KO) of the Bronx, New York, scored a unanimous decision to regain the IBF Bantamweight title in his first fight losing the title to 31-year old Columbian Yonnhy Perez (20-1-1, 14 KO) of Santa Fe Springs, California in October 2009.  Agbeko avenged the loss in style and, with the win, advanced to the finals of the four-man Showtime Bantamweight tournament on Saturday night at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington.

Agbeko, who previously held the IBF belt from 2007-09, entered the contest right at the division limit of 118 lbs.  Perez was a half-pound under at 117 ½.

Perez, remarkable in his fights for a non-stop stream of punches, wasted no time turning the faucet on against Agbeko, his left jab slashing at Agbeko as he came forward.  The Ghanaian former titlist kept his guard high and tight, his jab getting through the similar high guard of Perez and working in some hooks to the ribs.  Both men rocked each other with simultaneous hooks in the closing seconds.

Agbeko, boxing off the back foot, kept pace in the contest of left hook exchanges while also landing right hands to capture the attention of Perez.  Agbeko’s ability to contain the pace in the second dissipated in the third, Perez’s pressure forcing Agbeko to rush and leave himself open for some whipping lefts along the ropes. 

They opened the fourth exchanging jabs, Agbeko landing a sharp right in the first minute, returning to where he had been in the first two rounds by controlling the tempo and countering with authority.  A cut opened up over the left eye of Perez before the round was over, replays and the referee confirming an Agbeko punch doing the damage.

Perez was a story of ineffective aggression until the last minute of round five, a left hook halting Agbeko in his tracks after two minutes of smart boxing.  Through the fifth, it was solid action but a bit more deliberate, not quite as frantic, as what the two men produced in 2009.

It took only seconds after the bell for the sixth to see some frantic break out.  Perez was all but running forward, demanding his pace while Agbeko countered to get off the ropes.  An impossible to catalogue flow of punches were traded, the momentum swinging back and forth, Perez getting the better of it as he found his right hand for the first time all night.  With the bell approaching, Perez nailed Agbeko with the sort of right that looks like a finisher only for the African to keep afoot and fire back with a looping right of his own.  The crowd rose to its feet in salute at the bell.

In the seventh, it was Agbeko again, his right landing over the top and as a torrid uppercut.  Even as his arms grew heavy late in the frame, Agbeko kept throwing to grab charge of the affair back from a Perez who could not capitalize on the sixth.  He could not force the pace that would favor him either, not in round seven nor in the eighth or ninth.  By the tenth round, Agbeko had built what looked like the sort of lead only a knockout could erase.

The knockout hopes looked stronger for Agbeko, particularly in the eleventh, but ultimately both men would finish on their feet, and with their hands raised, their rivalry seemingly tied at one apiece.  The official decision confirmed the assumed with Agbeko receiving scores of 115-113, 116-112, and 117-111. 

BoxingScene scored the contest 118-110 for Agbeko.

Perez was gracious in suffering his first professional defeat.  “Agbeko had an intelligent fight today and Agbeko won fair and square.”  Agbeko was equally gracious, expressing thanks for having the IBF belt back.  “This is my meal ticket and I’m glad I’ve got it back.  I’m presenting this title to Ghana as a Christmas present.” 

His meal ticket will be threatened immediately.

In the televised co-feature and companion semi-final contest, 25-year old Abner Mares (21-0-1, 13 KO), 117 ½, a 2004 Mexican Olympian from Guadalajara, picked up the biggest victory of his young professional career with a nasty, bruising split decision over Armenian former Flyweight titlist and still-Lineal World Jr. Bantamweight champion Vic Darchinyan (35-3-1, 27 KO), 118, of Sydney, Australia. 

Darchinyan landed the first real punch of the fight after a cautious first forty seconds, a lead left out of his southpaw stance landing clean if without full force.  Mares sought to box, mixing in some short hooks to the body and trying to work as Darchinyan let his back touch the ropes.  A clash of heads opened a cut over the left eye, on the forehead, of Mares but the younger man kept his cool.  Darchinyan managed another landing left shortly after the cut opened but, in the last minute, it was still a game of feeling out.

Early in round two, a Mares right hand to the beltline drew a complaint of low blow from Darchinyan but referee Robert Howard shook him off.  A hard right to the face was partially blocked by Darchinyan but Mares used a Darchinyan offensive lunge to rip to the body of Darchinyan.  Just past the midway mark of the round, a Mares combination backed Darchinyan up, Mares seemingly in control, only to find himself using his glove to keep himself from the floor after a Darchinyan counter left.  Howard ruled a knockdown because the glove touched the floor but Mares was in so serious trouble.  Mares resumed control, boxing well through the final minute.

Mares was warned for low blows in round three with Darchinyan effusively complaining.  A mask of crimson on the left side of Mares’s face, Darchinyan’s developing plan to load up on single, thudding left counters began to pay dividends at the end of a round he was otherwise losing but Mares answered with right hands. 

Examined by the doctor during the rest period, Mares was cleared to continue and laced Darchinyan with stiff rights to open the action in the fourth.  The action wouldn’t remain that clean.  Before three more minutes would pass, Mares would be deducted a point for low blows in a round where he, again, landed the cleanest punches.  At the bell to end the round, Mares was warned again for cup shots while Darchinyan was warned to stop pulling Mares’s head down.

Round five saw the foul meter swing to Darchinyan, the power puncher warned twice for measuring with his left jab.  Mares picked up some more cautions for low blows as well but Howard was more cautious, keen to the Darchinyan tactic of pulling down on the head of Mares.  In terms of punches, Mares was landing more, and cleaner, but Darchinyan was getting his chances. 

Those chances were few as Darchinyan took a violent thrashing in round six.  Mares shook off the occasional, flush left from Darchinyan in a way few ever have, leading for most of the round and countering when touched.  Darchinyan absorbed multiple body blows, uppercuts, and accurate Mares right hands. 

Matters got no better in the seventh, Darchinyan running into a little bad luck to go with the bad intentions of Mares’s offense.  A booming Darchinyan left banged off the head of Mares and, it appeared, Darchinyan slipped off balance on the ring paint as Mares flicked him with a jab.  Howard ruled knockdown and Darchinyan responded with some huge left hands before the round was over.

Both men had their moments in a tense eighth round, Darchinyan controlling the pace and continuing to chip away with nasty left hands.  It was the older man’s best round since early on and he seemed to sense it as he mugged for the crowd, and Mares, to start the ninth.  Mares replied with leather in the first minute but Darchinyan, able to take the best Mares was giving, stayed calm.  With little more than a minute left in the round, Darchinyan buckled the knees of Mares but Mares collected himself and stayed more active.  A Darchinyan left to close the frame forced Mares to hold on, but he wasn’t landing enough.

With three rounds to go, it seemed Darchinyan was shooting for the knockout, scorecards be damned.  The work rate, and the punching accuracy, of Mares were better served for winning rounds and Mares played steady in the tenth and eleventh.  Both men were exhausted but it was Mares who seemed to have Darchinyan wobbled in both frames through sheer accumulation of punishment.

The two warriors touched gloves at center ring to start the final round, a weariness in their arms before taking a deep breath and letting loose with what was left.  Mares threw and landed first, a right hand to the face of Darchinyan forcing a clinch.  Both men landed lefts, grappling in close, Howard still warning against the rough stuff, his check earned in a rugged affair.  Darchinyan made a case to steal the round in the final minute, his echoing lefts landing clean and catching the eye, but it was Mares with more energy that raised his right glove at the final bell.

Given the roughness of the affair, the announcement of a split decision was no surprise.  The first score read, 115-111, went to Darchinyan but was overruled at 115-112 and 115-111 for Mares.  BoxingScene scored the contest 114-111 for Mares.

Mares was rightly elated at moving on to the tournament finals and stated he was hoping to see Perez in the final.  “Definitely, I would like to fight Yonnhy, a rematch, because the last fight was a close fight like (Darchinyan) was.  Whoever wins, it’s because they are the best fighter and it’s gonna’ be just a tough fight again.”  With Agbeko besting Perez, Mares now knows who that tough fight will be.

Darchinyan, in contrast, was frustrated after a second loss at the Bantamweight division since he began flirting with the class in 2009.  Darchinyan complained that the knockdown ruled against him, the stream of Mares low blows, and the admonishment for measuring, were a package of bad officiating.  “Referee break me down.  Wouldn’t let me fight my fight.  It’s disgusting.” 

Darchinyan is slated to face Perez in the consolation bracket of the tournament in another doubleheader sometime next year.  Entering the tournament, there were three matches that had not occurred yet: Mares-Darchinyan, Agbeko-Mares, and Perez-Darchinyan.  Barring any injuries or cancellations, a genuine round robin will be closed in 2011.  Perez stated after his loss to Agbeko that he would be going back to the gym to determine the best way to fight Darchinyan.

That he will fight, that all four of these men will fight, is a given.

The card was televised in the U.S. on Showtime, as part of its “Championship Boxing” series, promoted by Gary Shaw Productions and Golden Boy Promotions.

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at

roldboxing@hotmail.com