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By Cliff Rold - Referee Russell Mora ruined what was otherwise one hell of a fight, providing the entertaining “Showtime Bantamweight Tournament” with a controversial end and one of the worst, most distracting, refereeing performances in recent memory.
A rematch is in order, and immediately.
It is not to say the end result would ultimately be any different. A 2004 Mexican Olympian, 25-year old Abner Mares (22-0-1, 13 KO) of Montebello, California, got off to a great start and, while now former IBF Bantamweight titlist Joseph Agbeko (28-3, 22 KO), 31, of Accra, Ghana, rallied strong down the stretch he was working from behind as much because of the things Mares did right than the wrongs that went unpunished.
But there were wrongs, a ******* of low shots throughout the fight that went unpunished, some of them influenced by the holding of Agbeko but plenty more not. In the end, a majority decision for Mares was awarded but point deductions that might have been and a terrible knockdown call in the eleventh weighed heavily in Agbeko losing his crown at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Agbeko missed the division limit of 118 lbs. on his first two attempts on Friday before shaving crucial ounces to land on the necessary mark. Mares got it right the first time, scaling 117 ½ lbs.
Agbeko, dressed in gold with a matching golden trim bleached in the front of his hair, began the fight slipping left jabs from the instantly pressing Mares. Mares, his trunks a shade of purple, was immediately to the body; Agbeko responded in kind. A big right hand from Mares as Agbeko lingered against the ropes got a pop from the crowd. Moments later, a Mares blow strayed below the belt and Agbeko bent over in pain, Mares receiving a warning from Mora. [Click Here To Read More]
A rematch is in order, and immediately.
It is not to say the end result would ultimately be any different. A 2004 Mexican Olympian, 25-year old Abner Mares (22-0-1, 13 KO) of Montebello, California, got off to a great start and, while now former IBF Bantamweight titlist Joseph Agbeko (28-3, 22 KO), 31, of Accra, Ghana, rallied strong down the stretch he was working from behind as much because of the things Mares did right than the wrongs that went unpunished.
But there were wrongs, a ******* of low shots throughout the fight that went unpunished, some of them influenced by the holding of Agbeko but plenty more not. In the end, a majority decision for Mares was awarded but point deductions that might have been and a terrible knockdown call in the eleventh weighed heavily in Agbeko losing his crown at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Agbeko missed the division limit of 118 lbs. on his first two attempts on Friday before shaving crucial ounces to land on the necessary mark. Mares got it right the first time, scaling 117 ½ lbs.
Agbeko, dressed in gold with a matching golden trim bleached in the front of his hair, began the fight slipping left jabs from the instantly pressing Mares. Mares, his trunks a shade of purple, was immediately to the body; Agbeko responded in kind. A big right hand from Mares as Agbeko lingered against the ropes got a pop from the crowd. Moments later, a Mares blow strayed below the belt and Agbeko bent over in pain, Mares receiving a warning from Mora. [Click Here To Read More]
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