Abner Mares Vs Joseph Agbeko Countdown Thread...........

Excellent break down JFT :good

 

Cheers mate, I'm guessing you don't agree though? . Wish there was footage of Perez-Agbeko II on youtube, I've heard King Kong was a lot more impressive that night

 

Haha I still think Agbeko will craft his way through it. I'm going to watch Agbeko - Perez 2 and Mares - Darchinyan very soon (Had them both for ages) and try and break it down like you did. I thought Agbeko was very impressive vs Perez the second time around, his head movement was much better than in their first fight, he picked his shots better and got out of range far more efficiently when Perez pressed. It's a different Agbeko to the one who struggled against William Gonzalez.

Haven't you seen Perez/Agbeko II? I don't think it's available online to watch, but there are many download links to the fight. If you can't find it, I'll PM you link to it if you want.

 

I take issue with you saying Vic is 'crude', he has a lot more savvy to him than he gets given credit for.

Despite all the breakdowns I've done disagreeing with you, good post.

 

I think to be honest that Gonzalez fight was due in part to ring rust so i've tried not to read too much into it, I'm just hoping it doesn't really affect him vs Mares as well.

And no mate, was out the night it was on and haven't seen it since so that link would be great thanks :good

 

Thanks.

I've seen performances of Vic's where he has been assured and looked like a very good technician, for example I don't think he would have beaten Mijares without being so.

However, that fight vs agbeko smelt to me of someone too dependent on power and led to a pretty crude approach. I highlighted that because I think Abner will be in big trouble if he fights in a similar vein

 

Well, I'm of the opinion that Agbeko kind of nullified Darchinyan by having the correct style and taking full advantage of it. I think his style forced Vic to fight so undisciplined as opposed to him merely coming out looking to simply bomb Joseph out, I do see your point though.

 

Fair enough, I'd go along with that. I think the first few rounds in this fight will be pivotal, it's vital for each man to get into their rhythm early on and dictate the tempo of the fight on their terms.

With this destined to go 12 rounds in my mind, an early lead might be very, very important. With Agbeko coming off another lengthy lay off and my own concerns about Mares' judgement when pacing a fight, I just don't think either man will want to go into the late rounds feeling as though they have to win them all for a decision

 

I dunno', Vic looked poor in that fight IMO. And Agbeko was literally armed with the right hand and nothing else and made Vic look as bad as ever.

At first I felt it was due to the weight. His performance against Barcelona showed the same lack of refinement that he'd shown pre 118lbs.

 

Just watched the Agbeko/Perez II Showtime broadcast again, and 2 things really stood out to me:

Joseph Agbeko's head movement and counter punching ability has drastically improved from the first Perez fight, and both facets of his game are clearly better than they were at any previous fight in his career. When I first watched the fight, I hadn't seen too much of Joseph so I wasn't sure whether it was a knew addition to his game, thus it didn't stand out as much, but watching his older fights (Gonzalez, Perez I, Darchinyan) it is clear he has really refined himself in this area. He will slip shots, he will bob and weave against Abner Mares, and I will be very interested to see how Mares copes with it.

Also, during the Agbeko/Perez II Showtime broadcast, they show Yohnny Perez breaking down in tears during a pre-fight meeting where they discuss him being apart from his family in Colombia whilst training for the fight. It's pretty tough to watch, how emotional he gets.

Just thought I'd mention that :yep

 

That's what I've been telling all of y'all, he can slip and throw in one movement, and it's a very underrated asset for a fighter to have. Yonnhy was an absolute buzzsaw, and Agbeko was able to to evade and punish during Perez' combinations, it's a trait that often gets overlooked when fighters possess them.

With Mares, Perez would throw back at him, Darchinyan would throw back at him, but Agbeko can and will throw with him. And that doesn't mean get into exchanges, that means countering in the middle of a torrent of blows, and catching him off guard.

Mares was left bamboozled by some of the angles Vic presented him with, if he had immense difficulty with that I can't imagine the places King Kong throws shots from will be very welcomed, particularly when that right hand gets beamed through Abner's rather pourous guard.

 

Exactly. Good spot on the whole 'with' thing, that's one of the main reasons Agbeko beat Perez so clearly, he could land whilst Perez threw, connect with his own shots and evade Yohnny's. It was great to watch. Agbeko's foot movement was also top notch in that fight, the way he stepped out after landing was superb and timed to perfection. Also his switch hitting was pretty solid and really effective in confusing Perez. Agbeko's got so much to his game, I just can't see how Mares is going to deal with him. He can't be sustainaby landed on, he can't be trapped in corners or against the ropes (his movement is too god) and Mares is not going to be able to outmuscle him. Maybe if Abner had a great jab, he could throw the movement of Agbeko off and work from there, but the thing is, he doesn't and that will be a factor in the fight.

 

The footwork point is a good one.

Watch Agbeko's feet over the course of most of his fights, near flawless the way he positions them. When he's circling, he does the correct thing and inverts the lead foot, which enables him to manuver with greater fluidity and allows him to switch direction and stance a little bit more sly. When it isn't like that, and the foot is straightened, you shuffle more than move, it makes it that little more difficult, forces you to put greater emphasis on it and wears you down a little bit more.

But when he's going on the offensive, leading with his right hand? The foot points straighter, not squaring up, but pointing your lead foot towards the opponent, as it allows him greater leverage when he's lunging in with it. People look at a somewhat awkward fighter and think that that's why they've had success, but to pull it off you've got to have some substance to go with it, some ring smarts to go with the awkwardness to make a greater formula.

 

Quality post. Everything there is spot on :good

In round 7 Agbeko landed so many good counter right hands, of all different types (straights, hooks, uppercuts) I'm surprised that Perez finished on his feet, genuinely. They were some really good counter shots. Agbeko only really got caught coming in, and against a fast guy like Perez, who is a decent counter puncher himself (got a nice left hook) and can punch on the inside, that isn't bad at all.

Call me a nut job, and I'm not sure how you scored it (I had it 118-110 Agbeko) but I honestly think you could score this fight a 120-108 shut out for Agbeko. Perez did not clearly win any round IMO, and I gave him the benefit of the doubt in 2 rounds which could have gone Agbeko's way. Yohnny did not win a clear cut round in this fight, and Agbeko won plenty. It's telling, for me at least, that you could score Mares/Perez a draw (fair IMO, I had Mares 115-113, lots of close, could-have-gone-either-way rounds) and in contrast you could score Agbeko/Perez a shutout. Madness!

 

Oh, and added to this, I don't really rate Mares' ability to cut off the ring, which I think will allow these qualities to blossom further.

When I watch the Darchinyan fight, it just strikes me how easy it is to manuver the fight back into centre ring with Mares. Watch when CrabMan adjusts his position, Mares will basically plagerise that movement to stay with him, rather than respond to that change in positioning by using one of his own to close the space down.

When he appears to be on the verge of trapping Vic against the ropes or in the corner, Darchinyan will change his footing and reel away, Mares will in turn change his footing in what would be a similar pattern and follow him, as opposed to reacting accordingly, which would be to close down the amount of space Darchinyan can move into.

He appears to think ''Sweet! Got'cha now Puto!'' when the opponent nears that danger zone, so he just flails forward with his punches without cutting off the ring completely.

I usually hate this emoticon but, :deal, damn straight son.

Agbeko would be best advise to maybe utilise his left hand more than he does, but he almost counter-acts that with the sheer variety he has in his right, he can throw every shot from any angle with the right hand. I loved the side-step followed by a series of crushing right hooks to the body in particular against Perez, he's weirdly adept at throwing punches from the side of his opponent.

It's a shame that second fight seemed to have taken something out of Perez, because he really was a tremendous fighter. An absolutely relentless buzzsaw of a fighter when raging forward but possessed a bit more savvy than he's given credit for. I honestly think that the Perez of Agbeko x2, Mares and Mabuza beats Darchinyan, he'd just swarm all over him IMO and outwork him greatly, Darchinyan would obviously land the more eye-catching shots but Perez would be all over him from the get-go, such a physical presence who could really close the ring down.

It's a shame we're now going to be left with the tentative guy that showed up against Darchinyan, I don't know what the hell was going on there, he just continued sauntering in the direction of countless left hands. I of course give Crabchinyan some credit but I really don't believe he nullified Yonnhy or anything.

:think Think I had it 117-111, but I haven't seen it in full since fight night:hey, only bits here and there that have been uploaded and deleted from YouTube.

In these cases it's not really styles make fights, it's Perez' style makes fights. The man gives you hell, but if the blueprint to diffuse it could have been drawn up more perfectly than the way Agbeko did, I'm yet to see it. Everything was used perfectly by King Kong, the footwork, the side-stepping, the pivoting, the shot selection, he nullifed Perez brilliantly. The fact that we're talking about a fight involving a prime Yonnhy Perez where he didn't have a clear-cut round is saying something.

He forced Mares into one hell of a dogfight, and highlighted the poor attempt at ring generalship Mares often makes. He didn't want to trade, but he had to, because there was no conceiveable way he could avoid the on-rushing Perez. To his credit, he did a great job when he was exchanging, but the point is I doubt Agbeko will indulge him in that sort of stuff, he'll fight in a way that means Mares will have to take control of the ring, and I believe Agbeko to be the far superior ring general.