Yonnhy Perez upset Joseph Agbeko to win the IBF bantamweight title tonight. The 12-round war joins the short list of Fight of the Year contenders. (Photo via www.thompsonboxing.com)

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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.

Antonio DeMarco continued his rise through the lightweight ranks with a TKO win over Jose Alfaro tonight in Las Vegas. (Photo via sdfights.com)

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Antonio DeMarco won the interim WBC lightweight title tonight in Las Vegas, dominating Jose Alfaro and stopping the Nicaraguan in the 10th round after two knockdowns and Alfaro taking a final knee. Referee Joe Cortez waved the fight off at that point.

It was a pretty masterful performance for the 23-year old DeMarco (23-1-1, 17 KO), who is now in line to face the monster punching full WBC titlist, Edwin Valero. His win was no surprise, as he was the favorite, but Alfaro (23-5, 20 KO) was barely in the fight at all.

Valero-DeMarco probably isn't likely to happen any time soon, but DeMarco is really showing a ton of promise. He's strong, he's fighting smarter and smarter, and he's very young. He's got some good wins over solid opponents already and is knocking on the door at 135 pounds.

Bad Left Hook had it 89-82 for DeMarco at the time of stoppage. That was the same score on two of the three official scores, with the third card at 90-81.

On the untelevised undercard in Vegas, Ray Austin stopped DaVarryl Williamson in four. Our live thread is continuing for the 118-pound title fight in the main event between Joseph Agbeko and Yonnhy Perez. Join us!

Happy Halloween! Tonight's Showtime Championship Boxing double-header starts at 9pm ET. Ghosts and spooky, etc. Join us tonight!

JOSEPH AGBEKO		YONNHY PEREZ
	Main Event

ANTONIO DEMARCO		JOSE ALFARO

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Yonnhy Perez and Joseph Agbeko do battle on Halloween night in Las Vegas. (Photo via www.donking.com)

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Yonnhy Perez: Joseph Agbeko Is 'Fighting A Real Man' (FanHouse)
"He's not facing a nobody, he's fighting a real, future champion. He's not fighting his wife, he's fighting a real man. But if he says that he's going to deliver, that's great. I'm ready for any type of battle to happen in the ring." -- Yonnhy Perez

King sails back into Vegas fight scene (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
"I wanted to bring back TLC -- tender loving touch to the people." -- Don King

Will Agbeko live to his middle name King Kong? (Ghana Business News)
"I’m small, maybe, in height, but I’m King Kong inside. I have the heart of the real King Kong. He’s in my bones and in my heart. I come out and fight like I’m really King Kong." -- Joseph Agbeko (My favorite thing is that there is apparently a "real" King Kong.)

Q & A with Joseph "King Kong" Agbeko (15rounds.com)
"Yonnhy is a good fighter, he’s a nice person. Nothing personal." -- Agbeko

Joshua Clottey Wishes Agbeko Well (Ghana News)
"King Kong remains our only world champion now so we have to pray for him to beat Perez and keep the title for Ghana. I wish him well and I know he will not disappoint us." -- Joshua Clottey

Joseph Agbeko Brings Momentum to the Desert (BoxingScene.com)
"I think bantamweight has good fighters, good names. I think I'll turn out to be the best among all of them." -- Agbeko

Don King says bantam bout to bring ‘glory’ back to Vegas (Las Vegas Sun)
"I'm just happy to bring Vegas back, to the extent of giving them the excitement." -- King

Perez not afraid of King Kong (The Press-Enterprise)
"Yonnhy is the best contender for my title, and I'm the only person that can beat him." -- Agbeko

In a change of plans, Hozumi Hasegawa will face Alvaro Perez on December 18. (Photo via news.bbc.co.uk)

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As Eric Morel is unable to enter Japan due to his criminal record in the United States, Hozumi Hasegawa has found a new opponent for his December 18 bantamweight title defense in Kobe. Nicaraguan Alvaro Perez (18-1-1, 12 KO) will be the challenger for Hasegawa's WBC title.

I didn't think Morel had much of a chance with Hasegawa, and I know for sure that Perez doesn't. The 26-year old Perez has fought just once outside of his home country, and that came in 2005 in Panama. His loss came to William Gonzalez, who knocked him out in the fifth. You may remember Gonzalez from a tough 2008 fight with Joseph Agbeko.

Agbeko, by the way, recently commented on Hasegawa in a press release leading up to his October 31 fight with Yonnhy Perez on Showtime. Said Agbeko of Hasegawa, "After I beat Yonnhy, there's this coward in Japan named Hozumi I want to beat."

Hasegawa-Agbeko would almost certainly have to happen in Japan, but it'd be great if Hasegawa would take the leap and come to the States. His promoters might not allow for that, but one thing I'm hoping that Chris John's long overdue arrival in the U.S. this year will do is influence other fighters of that stature to make their way over. I'm not saying Hasegawa or anyone else needs to fight in the States to be considered good or even great fighters, but it helps.

Agbeko also better be focused entirely on Perez, who's a 100% legitimate challenger. Perez is one of those fighters with zero fear, plus he's got real power, and we know what Agbeko can do. That's a great looking fight for Saturday.

It appears Joseph Agbeko will be headlining a two-fight Showtime card on October 31. The bantamweight titlist would face Yonnhy Perez. (Photo via www.boxnews.com.ua)

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BoxingScene.com's Rick Reeno reports that Showtime is setting up an October 31 double-header featuring bantamweight titlist Joseph "King Kong" Agbeko's return to the ring. Agbeko is coming off of the biggest win of his career, an upset decision over a red-hot Vic Darchinyan.

Agbeko (27-1, 22 KO) would face undefeated Yonnhy Perez (19-0, 14 KO) in a main event that could produce fireworks. Perez is a 30-year old Colombian now living in California, and earned his title shot by stopping Silence Mabuza in the 12th round in Mabuza's home country of South Africa in May. Mabuza's only two losses prior to that fight came at the hands of Rafael Marquez.

The other fight would pit Showtime favorite Antonio DeMarco (22-1, 16 KO) against Jose Alfaro (23-4, 20 KO), another potential banger of a matchup. DeMarco is also sitting on a mandatory and a fight against Alfaro is no gimme. He knocked out Anges Adjaho on the Agbeko-Darchinyan undercard in July.

Right now, all Showtime officially has set up for their Showtime Championship Boxing series is Super Six shows and the September 12 Kessler and Ward showcase, which is meant to mostly promote the two fighters and their inclusion in the Super Six. Adding a card like this would be most welcome. Without it, October is looking quite thin, with only the Abraham-Taylor and Froch-Dirrell show truly a "major" card on the schedule.