Agbeko has ONE legitimate loss.

Just a little more context:

His seven really important bouts - against whom he's had the upper hand more than two thirds of the time going by that sum round breakdown - have all been against a high caliber of opposition.

Luis Alberto Perez was very highly regarded at the time, as an action hero with a bright future. Boxing columnists and experts saw Agbeko as being grist to the mill. He was considered a somewhat live underdog but his purpose that night was to be "fed" to Perez to give the latter some nice big national TV exposure (as the co-feature to Chad Dawson vs. Epi Mendoza on Showtime) in a showcase. Agbeko did not have a single quality win on his ledger at that point. If someone hadn't actually seen the loss to Sidorenko and didn't know what really happened, they could have just glanced at his record and thought he was just another padded-record African who lost the one time he ever stepped up. Furthermore, Agbeko had fallen off the map after the screw-job in Germany. Here it was autumn of 2007 and he'd only shaken the rust with two piddling Pongsaklek Wonjongkam style "sharpen up" bouts since a layoff dating back to 2004. Meanwhile Perez was coming off an excellent string of victories - five world title bouts in two different weight classes. They were all good names, too (Garcia; Kirilov, although a controversial decision he did knock Dimitri down for the first time as a pro and landed a lot of leather on the former amateur standout; still-dangerous Monster Bolano before his complete denigration into a tomato can; and Machado x2 after Macho was fresh off a very respectable title run of his own). It was a back and forth war that ended up very much outshining Dawson vs. Mendoza, but there was no doubt in any round that the sterner violence was being issued by the Ghanaian in just his second business trip across the Atlantic. By the time a game but embattled and badly damaged Perez had the matter conceded on his behalf by the ringside physician, the challenger had already notched enough rounds on his belt (all seven; the requisite majority in a 12-round contest) to wrest the title away.

His first defense against Gonzalez was no soft touch, nor was it even a step down from Perez. Agbeko was the real deal, having beaten Perez - but he still wasn't seen as a sure thing over the second consecutive Nicaraguan warrior in his path. This was very much a pick'em affair. In another very good melee, Agbeko reasserted dominion over his prized new property and actually came through the unfamiliar adversity of getting outfought in a few rounds to establish himself as Gonzalez's slight but decisive superior. King Kong had officially arrived with this statement making result. For some reason this was the fight where the whispers grew into real buzz. (Odd since you'd think Showtime would have had higher viewership than Versus, which never really caught fire in the boxing market).

Now, Darchinyan. Oh, where to begin with Darchinyan? This was after Darchinyan had been "exposed" by Donaire - but he was back on top after a tenacious and deleterious climb over the broken bodies of all in his way. Since walking into that now-infamous counter, he had worked his way back up the rankings and the estimation of the boxing fraternity with five wins and a draw (which many felt ought to have itself been a win). Darchinyan was again pugilistic royalty. He was still perceived as a force of nature, who had just run into a terrible style match-up against a rising star - but was still a deadly proposition for just about anyone else in the world at or near his weight. Who was Joseph Agbeko? He was some newly crowned titlist who'd just come through an entertaining slug-fest in impressive fashion against Gonzalez, but to most that didn't even come close to suggesting he'd have a prayer against the Raging Bull. Actual sentiments expressed right here on ESB at the time: "He's too hittable". "He's never faced anyone half as good as Vic". "He's too raw. He's the brawler/puncher in this match-up" "He only has a slim puncher's chance" etc. A select few who'd been particularly wowed by the Gonzalez performance (and the smaller contingent who remembered him upsetting Perez, and a marginal fringe who knew the real score in his violation years earlier against Sidorenko) went against the grain and picked Agbeko to pound down the smaller man moving up - but they almost all thought he had to win by KO, and they were unilaterally laughed at.

On the night, Agbeko took the Aussie-Armenian's heart and swallowed it whole. It was close on points (thanks in part to a bogus knockdown, which would soon become a recurring career motif...) but Agbeko dragged Darchinyan to the pits of hell. In some ways, this was a worse loss than the mercifully quick one to Donaire. Darchinyan got hit more than he ever had, by anyone - and harder, by a big strong and highly motivated kid from Accra who knew this was his one chance to really break through as an international star and accomplish more in the sport than being yet another disciple of Professor Nelson and celebrated figure back home.

Now, you'd think Agbeko would have finally garnered some respect and been heavily favored over the next contender...right? Nope. Yonnhy Perez was a sensation, undefeated and boasting what some were prohibitively hailing as the best chin in the game. He was coming off his best win to date - over the the very solid Silence Mabuza (who put up two spirited efforts against Rafael Marquez and had some minor success in them despite ultimately succumbing to the primed athletic freak). He was poised to really blow up on the scene, and taking Agbeko's title was supposed to be his coming out party for the American and global audience.

In a vicious, often dirty, and perpetually thrilling FOTY candidate - he wound up doing just exactly that. In the process, he had to rely heavily on that unreal chin as Agbeko got in licks aplenty. Perez actually scored a disputed knockdown with that splinter-proof skull, and many observers felt the final score ought to have been close enough for it to be a factor. It wasn't. The judges all had it a bit wide (uncomfortably so, by common assent) and the climb of King Kong seemed to have reached its Empire State needle.

Fortunately, Showtime decided to throw together a little tournament. They invited the three-time alumnus to participate, along with a few of the other best bantamweights from around the world (two of whom he knew quite well).

Obviously it goes without saying that the new IBF king was favored to repeat his success in the rematch, which headlined the inaugural tournament card. Once again, Agbeko was written off as "good, but not good enough". Nobody was prepared for what was to come.

It was night and day. Their first meeting had been to and fro, push and pull all the way. This was NOTHING like that. Agbeko boxed his ears off. It was an absolute CLINIC. Agbeko looked like Muhammad Ali, and Perez like Tony Galento. It was ridiculous.

That same night, Mexican prospect and fierce young pit bull Abner Mares earned his own finals berth with his own close decision over Vic Darchinyan. Immediately the boxing community was divided over who would wear the tournament crown. A slim preponderance went with "Lil Abner", despite his less dominant performance in the semi-finals. This would be reflected in the betting line. AGAIN, Agbeko was underestimated.

That brings us full circle to last night, which currently has plenty of threads devoted to contentious debate. The bottom line: if you strip away all the points and just go by rounds won, Agbeko was up at least 6 to 4 on any fair scorecard heading into the championship stretch. Throw the knockdowns out the window (and don't even bother adding in what ought to have been multiple point deductions from Mares) - and Agbeko had already defended his title with no worse than a draw 5/6 of the way through.

In his seven meaningful bouts, the man has never been a heavy favorite. (if he was a favorite at all over Will Gonzalez, it can't have been by much at all).





Yet he has won 54 of those 79 rounds. Against six top world-rated talents; five of whom have held world championships.

 

My sketch notes are on the top of the previous page. :good

 

He has a lot more patience for all the nonsense than his predecessor as Ghana's top pound for pound boxer (poor old Bazooka twice got fed up enough to say "the hell with this continent, I'm out!")