Suddenly, the bantamweight and flyweight divisions just got interesting.
This past Halloween, on Showtime, a night for trick or treating and innocent mayhem, Joseph “King Kong” Agbeko, 27-2, 22 KO’s, was ceremoniously handed a loss by Yonnhy Perez, 20-0, 14 KO’s, in what I consider to be a true statement of irony over 12 rounds.
Oh, Vic “Raging Bull” Darchinyan, you just may have to fight Yonnhy Perez now! Now, wait, could it be that Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire be put in this mix?
In the spirit of Halloween, Agbeko entered the ring with a King Kong mask, appearing as reserved, yet confident in his fight against Perez. I hadn’t seen Perez fight before, but I had remembered that Agbeko is a notorious head-butter – not a deliberate, dirty cheating kind of head-butter, and what the referee doesn’t see won’t count against him. But the bantamweights always have such a flurry of punches going that the referee can’t catch everything.
As for Agbeko, he seems to have a history of critical, if not cutting, head butts in his previous bouts. Against William Gonzalez, he suffered a headbutt by Agbeko, but some report that due to a previous low blow within 48 seconds of round one, may have started the reaction on Agbeko’s part.
Gonzalez suffered a cut to his left eye due a clash of heads. Overall, Gonzalez suffered three cuts all caused by headbutts. And with three cuts, this temporarily puts him out of contention for a little while within the division. Agbeko won the fight due to a majority decision over 12 rounds.
Agbeko’s constant head moving can cause a clash of heads, but against Darchinyan, he also showed his power punches connected against his opponent’s nose and eyes. This was a brutal fight for both Darchinyan and Agbeko – a rough fight – because again, what the referee sees and what the fighter gets away with are two different things.
In this fight, Agbeko got pushed to the canvas of the ring four times by Darchinyan, with one ruled as a knockdown against Agbeko. But in the end, Darchinyan didn’t fight as well as he should against any other fighter.
Agbeko won in a unanimous decision over 12 rounds. But I give credit to Agbeko. He successfully defended his IBF title three times in a row. But sadly, he couldn’t make it a four time title defense.
Yonnhy Perez took the fight to Agbeko and did not back down at all.
In the fight, the fighters displayed nonstop aggression. To draw an obvious conclusion about my take on Agbeko is that head butts again played into the fight and I think with some irony. At one point, Agbeko claimed a headbutt and went down to the canvas. Although it was ruled a knockdown, Perez did not fail to follow up.
As the scores were read, I knew Perez won, but he looked really beat up. He definitely earned the IBF Bantamweight Title. But you can’t help but wonder that now with a new titleholder, Perez adds an interesting mix to the bantamweight division. And what is bound to be an eventual rematch between Agbeko and Perez.
As I’ve stated in my previous articles, the pool of talent within the bantamweights and flyweights is most exciting. The maximum weight for a bantamweight is 118 pounds (53.5 kg or 8 stone) and the flyweight division (also known as paperweight) sets a maximum weight for 112 pounds.
As I’ve been most recently reminded – Filipinos tend to dominate these weight classes. There is Marvelous Marvin Sonsona – WBO Super Flyweight Titleholder, 14-0, 12 KO’s, a southpaw from General Santos City, Mindanao, Philippines (sound familiar to anyone?).
Plus, there’s also Brian “Pinoy Punch” Viloria, the current IBF Light Flyweight Title holder, 26-2, 15 KO’s. Now, depending on the rules and promoters, moving up 5 pounds within a weight division can be challenging, but not difficult. Even as I notice the ultimate 5 pounds weight gain in and around my hips, for a fighter, and in the case of Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire, he just may have to dive into the bantamweight division.
Yes, the bantamweight and flyweight divisions will be unfolding in the next couple of months.
Vic Darchinyan needs to fight Perez for the title or perhaps Donaire just may have to consider a weight gain and become an undisputed champion of two weight divisions. Let’s not forget Agbeko and how Perez will match up in his future title defenses.
As far as exposure for the bantamweights and flyweights, Showtime has really been the forerunner in making boxing exciting again for fight fans everywhere.
Bob Arum and Oscar De La Hoya are you listening?
Look into the pool of talent within the bantamweight and flyweights. The fighters in these weight divisions are exciting, fresh, and hungry to score a big fight against one another for titles, period. The quality of the fighters is only going to get better and exciting, and hopefully bring the money and attention these boxers so richly deserve.
