Yonnhy Perez outpoints Joseph Agbeko in 12-round thriller
by SC on Oct 31, 2009 11:21 PM EDT
in Post-Fight Analysis
9 comments
Yonnhy Perez stayed undefeated and won the IBF bantamweight title, outpointing Joseph Agbeko in an electric, toe-to-toe Fight of the Year contender tonight in Las Vegas.
Perez (20-0, 14 KO) won on scores of 116-111, 117-110 and 117-110. Bad Left Hook scored it 116-111 for Perez. The fight's workrate was absolutely astounding, as there were no lulls in action and I can't recall a single clinch.
A controversial knockdown in the 10th round went Perez's way, as Agbeko complained of a headbutt, turned his back, and was punched. He then went to his knee and kept complaining of the headbutt. A replay of the butt showed that there was in fact a headbutt there, but truthfully, it looked like it was Agbeko, a noted user of the tactic, throwing the headbutt that wound up hurting him. He also cut Perez earlier in the fight with a headbutt, and blatantly butted him on at least one other occasion.
To be completely honest, Agbeko complaining of headbutts (especially with his head swinging toward Perez on the butt in question) is ridiculous. The guy is maybe the best headbutt machine in the game today. He uses the move liberally.
Agbeko (27-2, 22 KO) is hardly back to the drawing board. He's still clearly among the bantamweight elite, and he wants a rematch. I think the people that saw this one would love to see a rematch, too. I know I would. It was an outstanding fight, an epic war that surpassed even the highest expectations.
Congratulations to Yonnhy Perez on his first major title, and hats off to both of these gutsy fighters for a great, great fight.
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btw
This has to be the best month of fights in 2009, off the top of my head. Lopez-Mtagwa, Agbeko-Perez, Moore-Rhodes. Some fucking amazing stuff.
Bad Left Hook
"Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him." -- Tex Cobb telling Howard Cosell how he would approach Larry Holmes
by SC on Oct 31, 2009 11:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
forgot lopez-mtagwa was an october fight. gonna be a tough poll to vote in, tomorrow
The Dude Abides
by battle axe of doom on Oct 31, 2009 11:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Easily
For about six months, in my mind, the only contenders were Marquez-Diaz and Dunne-Cordoba, and then all of a sudden there are three legitimate fight of the year candidates in the same month.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
by Brickhaus on Nov 1, 2009 12:05 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions 0 recs
Tonight’s card was a joy to watch. Perez/Agbeko was thrilling and DeMarco was really impressive. Awesome, awesome stuff.
Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
MMA Editor - SBNation.com
by Brent Brookhouse on Nov 1, 2009 1:05 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
What a fight! I’d pick pick Agbeko in a rematch only because I think he’d fight with the urgency that Perez did in this fight.
Just call me The Profit
by Manuwar on Nov 1, 2009 1:22 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I think Perez might always be a really tough matchup for him. It’s a guy that can match him in pace and he appeared totally unable to hurt him. I mean Agbeko landed some bombs in this fight and Perez barely even reacted. Meanwhile I thought Yonnhy hurt Agbeko a few times, especially to the body. But overall I’m glad this fight was so great, and I’m glad Showtime put these two dudes in a main event like this. And I’m happy that Yonnhy turned out to be as good as I thought he might have been. Boxing didn’t lose any top tier fighters tonight, just gained one.
Bad Left Hook
"Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him." -- Tex Cobb telling Howard Cosell how he would approach Larry Holmes
by SC on Nov 1, 2009 1:37 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
They are a tough matchup for each other and it just seemed that what determined each round was who wanted it more. Yonnhy being the challenger was a little hungrier and kept up the agressiveness more often. I think his corner realized that will was going to win the fight for him and along with the usual boxing advice they were reminding Yonnhy who and what he was fighting for telling him “do it for your family…”
Just call me The Profit
by Manuwar on Nov 1, 2009 4:34 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Is there anything close to somewhat official punch numbers? I was getting tired watching these guys, may or may not be drinking beer or something, and was honestly curious. Punch rate subsided a little bit but was still at a ridiculous rate even in the later rounds, especially the 12 and final rooouuuunnndd.
by waldo47 on Nov 2, 2009 2:58 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
For fun, I counted the punches in Round 9
Agbeko threw 119 and Perez threw 134. And that was in Round 9!!!
If there were official stats, I wouldn’t be shocked if they broke the record from Cruz-Mashaba, or if Perez broke the individual record for punches thrown in a fight.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
by Brickhaus on Nov 2, 2009 3:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
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