Terrific Scrap Overshadowed By Questionable Officiating
You Won’t Want To Miss The Replay On Tuesday Aug. 16,
At 10:30 P.M. ET/PT On SHO EXTREME
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Saturday, Aug. 13, 2011, Live on SHOWTIME®
From Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
LAS VEGAS (Aug. 13, 2011) – In a great action fight Saturday marred by puzzling officiating by the referee that left fans at The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, those watching on SHOWTIME® and the telecast team themselves totally perplexed, Abner Mares won The Bantamweight Tournament Final: Winner Takes All and the International Boxing Federation (IBF) bantamweight title with a majority 12-round decision over defending IBF titlist Joseph King Kong Agbeko.
The unbeaten Mares (22-0-1, 13 KOs), of Hawaiian Gardens, Calif., scored two knockdowns – one in the first and one in the 11th that was one hotly disputed – en route to outpointing the New York-based Agbeko (28-3, 22 KOs) of Ghana by the scores of 115-111 twice and 113-113.
But talk afterward centered less on the terrific performances of the talented, proud prizefighters and more on the referee, Russell Mora, whose failure to deduct a point from the winner despite at least five warnings for low blows and several other shots that seemed south of the border left many in disbelief.
During the telecast, SHOWTIME ringside analyst Antonio Tarver said, “Mora robbed all of us of a great fight.’’
There were 1,394 punches thrown in a give-and-take slugfest. Mares connected on 318 of 732, Agbeko on 318 of 732.
“I thought the first knockdown was clear,’’ said Mares, who made history by becoming the first homegrown Golden Boy Promotions boxer to capture a world title. “On the second I hit him on the belt and the ref chose to give him a count. I agree with the ref’s choice.
“I like to work the body but I was making the fight and all he did was counter-punch.
“I’m open to fight anybody (next). I love this tournament and would love to be in another one like this.’’
Said Agbeko, who demanded an immediate rematch, “I felt as though I was fighting two opponents in the ring tonight, Abner Mares and the referee. The referee ruled incorrectly on the knockdowns and he allowed Mares to hit me low repeatedly. Then, in the 11th, he called what everyone could see was another obvious low blow a knockdown.
“I don’t why these things happened to me. I felt the ref was against me from the start. All I wanted was a fair fight.
“I like Abner. He’s a good fighter. But I’m sure he didn’t want to win a fight this way.’’
A 12-round fight promoted by Don King Productions and Golden Boy Promotions will re-air this week as follows:
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
A great action fight?
This fight sucked from the first round with one low blow after the other.
The referee should be banned from the ring forever and have the crap beat out of him in the alley.
Abner Mares doesn’t deserve the belt, other than to be beat with it for dirty shots….It Was a disgrace, and the only championship he can claim is one of low blows.
Joseph Agbeko is a real champion and simply had his belt stolen in Las Vegas.
I was for Abner Mares at the start of the fight, but by the end of the second round disappointment set in followed by extreme anger.
Joseph Agbeko fought a great fight considering all the low blows and has a heart like a lion….It Was the first time I ever saw a fighter given the count after being dropped by a punch to the ball’s. WTF
It’s very upsetting that he lost his belt, but no doubt he has gained an abundance of new fans.
Shame on the judges also…The Fact is there is no way you can get a fair fight in the U.S.
Sadly it’s something that is getting worse, and that I find embarrassing.
Shame on Abner Mares and referee, Russell Mora…They Both suck.
Joseph Agbeko, Your one tough boxer, and I’ll be looking forward to your next fight.