Agbeko Decisions Darchinyan, King Kong Triumphs
By Mark Vester
At the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida, IBF bantamweight champion Joseph Agbeko (27-1, 22 KOs) won a twelve round unanimous decision over WBC/IBF/WBA super flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan (32-2-1, 26 KOs). The scores were 116-111, 114-113, 114-113.
The two fighters tested the waters with their power punches in the first two rounds. Darchinyan was stalking and trying to overpower Agbeko, who threw as good as he got. The third saw them exchange more power punches and go toe to toe in the final fifteen- seconds. Darchinyan suffered a minor cut near the left eye. Darchinyan appeared to slow down a bit in the fourth. Agbeko was able to land some very good punches. In the final seconds Darchinyan got off with a few hard hooks.
Agbeko worked over Darchinyan's body in the fifth, and busted up his nose to draw a flow of blood. The sixth round was better for Darchinyan but he ate many right hands and had no way to stop them. The timekeeper made a mistake in the seventh round, allowing the round to go for four full minutes. During the round, Agbeko did a lot of good work. The work was knocked down a bit when Darchinyan appeared to push Agbeko down and the ref ruled it as a knockdown. By this point Darchinyan's face was very swollen and taking punishment.
Darchinyan appeared to be stunned during the eight round. During the final seconds of the round, the two fighters would once again go toe to toe with Agbeko being wobbled. In the ninth, Darchinyan went work with his left hand and landed many of them while landing his right jab to set the punches up. During the tenth, a clash of heads would open up a bad cut above the right eye of Darchinyan. There was plenty of brawling between the two as they stood close and threw power punches.
They continued to brawl in the eleventh round with both guys coming in close and trying to go for a knockout. During the twelfth, Agbeko and Darchinyan tried to go for their knockout punches. The two swung all the way to the final bell with Darchinyan looking tired.
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