Yonnhy Perez (right) and Joseph Agbeko both raise their hands following their 12-round IBF bantamweight championship fight at Treasure Island on Saturday.
Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009 | 10:46 p.m.
Joseph Agbeko spent all last week predicting a knockout win for himself over Yonnhy Perez in their IBF bantamweight championship fight Saturday night at Treasure Island.
When it came time to make good on his promise, however, the task proved to be more difficult than the champion had expected.
In front of a sellout crowd at the first boxing match ever hosted by Treasure Island, Perez (20-0, 14 KO) out-boxed Agbeko throughout the 12-round fight, claiming the IBF belt with a unanimous decision win.
Although the fight was perceived by many to be incredibly close from start to finish, Perez dominated the scorecards, winning 116-111 on one and 117-110 on the other two.
“I knew I was winning the rounds, and I deserved to get the victory,” Perez said. “I felt I was more consistent and more active. I pressed the fight throughout.”
The pace started furious and stayed that way for the majority of the night.
Agbeko, who came into the fight with an impressive knockout percentage of 81 percent, pressed the action early but quickly found Perez to be game to the early action.
According to Perez, his camp had anticipated a busy fight.
“I trained to throw a lot of punches,” Perez said. “I know Agbeko likes to throw a lot of punches, so I knew I had to be better conditioned. All the hard work and preparation paid off.”
Perez caught a break in the tenth round when he scored a knockdown from an accidental head-butt with Agbeko (27-2, 22 KO).
Agbeko immediately complained to referee Robert Byrd but to no avail.
“I didn’t see whether it was a head-butt of a punch, therefore I had to rule it was from a punch,” Byrd said.
After the fight, Agbeko continued to complain about the missed call, stating that it not only robbed him of a point but also gave momentum to Perez.
“He head-butted me in round 10,” Agbeko said. “The replay clearly shows what happened. I was fighting well to that point. I thought I was winning the fight.
“Perez seemed energized after being awarded the knockdown and I was never the same after his head hit mine. We will never know what would happened had there not been a head-butt.”
Saturday also marked the first card promoted by Don King in Las Vegas in four years.
The famous promoter was on hand for the entire event and even made up with former client Mike Tyson, who helped commentate on the fights.
“I never said anything bad about Mike for all these years because I knew we would get back together someday,” King said. “Reunited, and it feels so good.”
Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or [email protected].
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy