Even with a different ref, and no low blows, he wouldn't beat Abner. At the end of the day, Abner is just too busy, and throws too many punches. And Joseph is NOT a KO puncher, so he would not be able to KO Abner. Joe has NEVER knocked out a legit challenger, let alone champion. His KO's are a result of fighting guys who were in their pro debut, or guys that were very inexperienced. So, the only way Joe would have a chance to win, he just doesn't have the power to do so.
The constant lowblows gutted Agbeko. With no false knockdown and one penalty point, just one, the fight would have been a majority draw favoring Agbeko. To say Mares would otherwise win is unknowable and, even if we want to fantasize, highly unlikely.
Even having absorbed low blows for 9 rounds it was Mares, not Agbeko, who looked drained, intimidated, and confused heading into the championship rounds. Mares might have been able to steal a decision from King Kong in a fair fight, but only if the judges went for flash over substance. Mares could never break Agbeko's will and he's just not good enough to truly outbox him.
Convert the 11th round from a 10-8 for Mares to a 10-8 for Agbeko (as it ought to have been), and there's no way Mares won on any fair scorecard. So...how is it that he wouldn't win a rematch? :huh He would need to win more rounds than Mares over a stretch of 12. He's demonstrated that he can do that.
I forgot the judges scorecard, wasn't it a 4 point difference between 2 judges. forgive me if my math is wrong but wouldn't that have mad it a majority draw.
He sure seemed like the better fighter in the latter half of the bout despite having his testicles constantly bashed in.
No it doesn't. Counting punches is not how you score a fight. If it was then you wouldn't need judges and compubox would determine the outcome of fights. Punching is just one aspect of boxing.