Career
On September 29, 2007, he dethroned Luis Alberto Perez to become the new IBF bantamweight titleholder. In a fight that had been repeatedly postponed, he defeated William Gonzalez by majority decision. On Halloween night, October 31, 2009, Agbeko lost his IBF title by 12 round unanimous decision to 20-0 Colombian challenger Yonnhy Pérez.
Perez versus
Agbeko II On December 11, 2010, Agbeko was given the chance to regain his IBF title when he took on Yonnhy Pérez in the semi-finals of the Showtime Bantamweight tournament, which was televised live from the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington. Rather than brawling as he had done in his first fight with Pérez, Agbeko chose to use his boxing skills and stiff jab to cruise to a unanimous decision victory, with the judges scoring it 116-112, 117-111 and 115-113. Also on the card was Abner Mares, who defeated Vic Darchinyan via controversial split-decision to advance to the finals and a showdown with Agbeko.
Agbeko versus
Mares However, Agbeko pulled out of the fight just days prior citing an injury. The fight has been rescheduled for August 13 in Las Vegas. The fight ensued as scheduled on the 13th.
However, the focal point of the fight became referee Russell Mora who repeatedly warned Mares for low blows without taking a point.
To Agbeko"s cr, despite many blows to the belt and below, he did not retaliate in kind. Post fight Jim Gray continued Showtime"s lambasting of Mora in an interview where he plainly showed the crucial call that turned the fight.
A low blow in the 11th leading to a knockdown. In all there were two knockdowns.
The first coming early could have been called a slip but a punch was landed.
The second was the result of what was definitely a low blow. The scoring read 115-111, 115-111 and 113-113.
