Joseph Agbeko Brings Momentum to the Desert

By Cliff Rold

Making only his second trip to Las Vegas, 29-year old IBF Bantamweight titlist Joseph Agbeko (27-1, 22 KO) of Accra, Ghana has returned with something anyone wants in the desert oasis.

Agbeko is hitting the strip already on a hot streak.

Come Saturday night, he’ll need the cards to keep dealing his way. He knows what it’s like when that doesn’t happen. A professional since 1998, Agbeko toiled towards his first title shot in 2004, a chance at then-WBA titlist Wladimir Sidorenko in Germany. Agbeko’s solid performance was rewarded with a controversial majority decision against him.

Opportunities, and patience, have since have worked out in his favor.

Inactive from late 2004 until early 2007, Agbeko posted a pair of wins in the latter year and got a shot at IBF titlist Luis Perez, battering the Nicaraguan into a seventh round corner retirement. More inactivity waited as it took over a year for Agbeko to make his first title defense in December of 2008. With two defenses now under his belt, Agbeko makes his third start in less than a year on the cusp of serious stardom.

And Bantamweight remains on the cusp of becoming one of the sport’s most realized divisions.

Agbeko joins WBA titlist Anselmo Moreno (27-1-1, 9 KO) and WBC titlist Hozumi Hasegawa (27-2, 11 KO) in as strong a trio of beltholders as can be found in the sport. Throw in veteran three division titlist, and current WBO beltholder Fernando Montiel (39-2-2, 29 KO) coming off a controversial outing against Alejandro Valdez and undefeated young contenders like Abner Mares (19-0, 12 KO), Nehomar Cermeno (18-0, 10 KO), and Yonnhy Perez (19-0, 14 KO) for good measure.

The ingredients are clearly in place for some explosions. Can the fights happen to take advantage of the talent? It remains to be seen in a division which, while one of boxing’s oldest, has not seen a unification fight among various titlists in almost forty years.

Agbeko defends against Perez on Saturday in a contest eagerly anticipated by serious boxing fans and talks about the possibility of unification bouts in the future. It looks like the mixing bowl is coming together.

Speaking with Agbeko on Monday evening, his first priority is the California-based Colombian Perez. “Preparation is good. Everything is good. I’m ready for the fight.”

Perez enters the bout off of a twelfth round knockout of longtime South African contender Silence Mabuza, in South Africa, in May of this year. The Mabuza win has been only one of Perez’s fights which have been a focus of film study for this contest. “I watched a couple of his fights, like three fights. Not just Mabuza. I know what he can do…he’s a very good fighter.”

Fans can hope Perez meets the description as Agbeko has shown that, with good opponents, he makes very good fights. In his first defense, on the undercard of the Cruiserweight war between Tomasz Adamek-Steve Cunningham, he was matched with William Gonzalez and they nearly stole the show.

This past May, Agbeko entered the slight underdog for a defense against streaking World Jr. Bantamweight champion Vic Darchinyan. In a fast paced affair, Agbeko used a hard jab, deft footwork, and well timed lead rights to defuse the hard hitting southpaw, earning a unanimous decision in his biggest win to date.

Asked to reflect on the Darchinyan victory, Agbeko stated, “He was a good fighter. He was really tested. I love fighting the best people…People were thinking he could beat me but I believe I’m the best.” The win brought spoils both in the ring and back home. “It was great…All Ghana loved me. They really appreciated the good things I was doing. I was so happy. There was a huge crowd at the airport. It felt good.”

Read the rest at: http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=23119

Don't sleep on DeMarco vs. Alfaro, either. Alfaro caught my attention with his spirited fight against Jose Miguel Cotto, and his fight with Singwancha wasn't bad either.

But Agbeko vs. Perez could shape up to be one of those fights that creep on the casual fan and turn into a barnburner. I haven't been disappointed by King Kong yet.

Perez is getting underestimated here, my money is on him.

The off tv undercard will be shown live on Don King tv, if anyone's interested.

Think Cory Spinks will be on there and also James De La Rosa

I don't know about that I think the odds are fair in line with where they should be. Agbeko is hard to beat and it is easy to argue he is undefeated. The Sidorenko loss was as hometown of a decision as you can get.

I think it's a pick 'em.

You lost me at Spinks. As much as I hate him, King isn't doing much with a titilist buried on an untelevised undercard. He really just lets guys languish now. Alexander/Spinks double header would draw huge in St louis, TV or not.

I think Perez will win!

Maybe so, but I'm all about +190. Stopping Mabuza in South Africa is as impressive as any of Agbeko's wins imo. I like them both.

I just got a copy of that fight and will upload it here hopefully before Saturday. Having not actually watched the fight yet, I know that Perez was behind on all the scorecards before he scored the knockout. I don't know yet if that is because of the region or if he was really behind.

It was a good fight, doesn't matter if he was behind. He closed the show in the final rd against a bad ass.

I'm looking forward to it. All I've seen of Perez are highlights from the Mabuza fights, and he looked solid. Could be a hell of a good fight.

I youtubed him and he looks as stiff as a plank of wood. I'm confident with Agbeko via easy dec in that one.



I'm sleeping on him DH.

Funny, we were actually given three opponents to choose for Ganoy when he had his eliminator a while back. One of them was Alfaro. We chose him based off footage we saw. He didn't look much at all. Anyway, he became unavailable so we got stuck with Angulo and got ktfo. lol.

Nah, I like Demarco here.

I think King Kong is tailor made for Perez. That cat will make you pay for getting in his face.

K X P

Also, cheering for Perez because our fighter Ronny Rios has been helping him spar! It should be a good fight tho. But I'm not that impress with Agbecko for some reason.

i believe Perez is gonna beat Agbeko in a good fight...dude aint no joke...im taking Perez by UD.

Perez is a solid underdog and I think he'll pull the upset. I can't find his height & reach anywhere, but he looks tall. He's at least 5'9". This is a big guy at Bantam with good skills and very good stamina. He looked fresher than Mugbuza in the 12 round of their fight and he'll be there til the end.

This fight is going 12 rounds and it'll be a very close one. I think it's a toss up, but I'm slightly leaning toward Perez because of his height.

WAR DeMarco

should be a nice night of fights

thompson boxing has some highlights of Perez on youtube if anyone is interested

WAR Yonnhy (correct spelling)

I saw that, some sparring footage?

I'm only going on what i could find on tube but geez he looks very stiff and mechanical. yeah/no?

Just watched Mabuza-Perez. Perez won maybe four rounds. Every time Perez looked like he was going to rally, Mabuza came out strong the following round. Mabuza has a very awkward style and throws his punches from all sorts of angles. Agbeko is more straight up in his approach but Agbeko will be throwing 100 punches around. Perez is much longer than King Kong so that will pose problems for the champ. Can't wait for this fight.

How few rounds he won became a moot point once he landed his right in the 12th.

I kind of question how active Agbeko can be in this fight. Perez is a tireless gym rat and it's almost impossible to envision anyone outlasting him. I still have King Kong barely squeaking out a split decision, but it's no doubt a pick-'em if there ever was one.

his trainer tells me he literally chases Yonnhy away from the gym because he loves to train all the time.

good kid and a great story

If anyone can outlast Perez, it is going to be Agbeko. I have never seen that guy tire at the end of fights, and other than against Darchinyan every fight of his I saw he was throwing close to 100 a round.

And how few rounds he won is moot in terms of the Mabuza fight obviously, but it weighs heavily in my mind for this Saturday because Agbeko has never been hurt and has never been tired. Agbeko fought Gonzalez closely because he hurt himself in that fight and still was able to last the distance against a tough come-forward fighter. Agbeko's biggest strengths are his stamina, his chin, and his output. All three of those things are hard to deal with but I like Perez' size and determination. I just think Agbeko's experience will be the determining factor.

If Perez is able to hurt Agbeko then he is definitely the real deal, because nobody has been able to do it yet.

I guess what I was getting at is the reverse being true - if anyone can outlast Agbeko, it's Perez.

Great fight either way. The only downside is that it goes directly against Game 4 (which matters to me as a Yankees fan )

Agbeko easy.

just saw on Tv that they will use instant replay for this fight in instances where an injury stops the fight or whether a knockdown was scored before or after a bell

Joseph Agbeko-Yonnhy Perez: The Pre-Fight Report Card

By Cliff Rold

Boxing fans have, for most of the last few months, had chances to take a breather between fights. Hot weeks were followed by veritable weeks off.

There won’t be another week like that for a while.

Saturday night in Las Vegas, five sensational weeks of action kick off with mega-fights from Flyweight to Heavyweight, a little Welterweight action in between. Fans can look forward to:

Daisuke Naito-Koki Kameda (Flyweight)
Chad Dawson-Glen Johnson II (Light Heavyweight)
Nicolay Valuev-David Haye (Heavyweight)
Miguel Cotto-Manny Pacquiao (Welterweight)
Mikkel Kessler-Andre Ward (Super Middleweight); and
Lucian Bute-Librado Andrade II (Super Middleweight).

That’s five straight weeks.

Those are just the main events.

The run starts at 118 lbs. this weekend and let’s hope it’s only the tip of the iceberg in this class.

After years of hit or miss single titlists, Bantamweight suddenly sports depth with a range of talent both seasoned and hungry top become so. This weekend’s featured contest spotlights one of each, with a surging titlist from boxing rich Ghana defending against a man who doesn’t know how to lose.

It’s not as big, in terms of attention, as some of the other bouts to come over the next five weeks. In the ring, it could be as good, or better, than any of them.

Let’s go to the report card.

The Ledgers

Joseph Agbeko
Age: 29
Titles: IBF Bantamweight (2007-Present, 2 Defenses)
Height: 5’5 ½
Weight: 118 lbs.
Average Weight – Last Five Fights: 117.25 lbs.
Hails from: Accra, Ghana
Record: 27-1, 22 KO
Record in Championship Fights: 3-1, 1 KO
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 2 (Luis Perez, Vic Darchinyan)
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced in Defeat: 1 (Wladimir Sidorenko)

Vs.

Yonnhy Perez
Age: 30
Title: 1st Title Fight
Height: 5’6
Weight: 118 lbs.
Average Weight – Last Five Fights: 118.4 lbs.
Hails from: Cartagena, Colombia (Santa Fe Springs, California)
Record: 19-0, 14 KO

Read the Rest at: http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=23157

Great article, Cliff, but Agbeko's fight with Sidorenko wasn't for a world title. Do you include regional or smaller titles in your "Record in Title Fights"?

You're right...I thought that was for the WBA belt; didn't double check appropriately. My bad.

The fight will be exciting, but to me there isn't that big of a suspiscion as to who will win; I think Agbeko wins fairly easily. He's the real deal IMO.

Surprised so many are going with Perez here.

I wish they were televising Williamson vs Ray Austin on the undercard. It has the makings of an explosive heavyweight fight.

Fights like this make me wish there weren't any Heavyweights at all anymore.

Almost time, looking forward to this fight!

You can watch that snoozer and Cory Spinks on Don Kings internet PPV for only $5.99

I dunno where people got the idea Cory Spinks is fighting...he isn't.

bantamweight Joseph Agbeko SC Yonnhy Perez NC ? 12

lightweight Antonio DeMarco SC Jose Alfaro NC ? 12

heavyweight DaVarryl Williamson SC Ray Austin NC ? 12

welterweight James De la Rosa SC Lenin Arroyo NC ? 10

light middleweight Nelson Linares SC Archak TerMeliksetian NC ? 10

heavyweight Bermane Stiverne SC Jerry Butler NC ? 8

lightweight Angelo Santana SC Miguel Gonzalez NC ? 6

super featherweight Marvin Quintero SC Walter Estrada NC ? 6

I got the idea from a Don King press release.

Perez will land some clean, hard shots, probably more eye catching ones than Agbeko, but I think the safest bet is Agbeko winning on activity.

Anyone got a stream for this? Figure it's not PPV, so it should be kosher.

James De La Rosa looked pretty bad on the undercard, won a UD, but did not impress.

Can't wait for tonight's action! Will be a good way to start off the night

And the DISH NETWORK GUIDE which has Spinks vs TBA as the second of three televised fights.

Showtime card only has two fights
Demarco fight
Agbeko fight

anyone know who won Williamson vs. Austin?

Austin knocked out Williamson in 4.

Thanks bro

boxingscene is saying that Austin will now fight Maskaev in a final eliminator for the WBC

Creo que hay un aqui (in Spanish):

http://www.justin.tv/fconjustin

I'd say betting on a somewhat-unknown Colombian with a relatively high KO percentage generally isn't THAT crazy.

Colombians and Africans? Ugh. Great people. Shit boxers. Agbeko still takes this.

Perez is decent, but I only picked him in the game because it would be a big upset. Otherwise I'd say Agbeko probably takes it with activity and movement.

(EDIT)

P.S. - I'm not sure why, but DeMarco is entertaining me here. It's like the core fundamentals are very solid, defense is good overall, etc., but he's just rough enough around the edges to get tagged and make it interesting. Reminds me a bit of Soto in there.