number1contender.net

Showtime Championship Boxing Recap

 

October 31, 2009

Treasure Island Casino-Las Vegas, Nevada

 

 

 

This article is dedicated to my grandfather. He was a great man who passed away 2 years ago this Halloween. I spent the day on Saturday with my grandmother. That is the reason this recap has been delayed.

 

 

 

At the bottom of this recap in the News and Notes section, there is going to be an additional piece on the SmackDown! vs. Raw 2010 video game, that contains spoilers.

 

 

 

As Showtime continues to play musical chairs with their boxing announcers the play-by-play man for this broadcast is the returning Steve Albert. Albert is back with longtime broadcast partner and newly elected Hall of Famer Al Bernstein on Showtime Championship Boxing to call the first boxing event ever held at Treasure Island which has drawn a sellout crowd of 1,016, after being the play-by-play voice for Showtime Championship Boxing since the series' inception prior to being unceremoniously replaced at the beginning of this year for EliteXC play-by-play broadcaster Gus Johnson.

 

 

 

1. Interim WBC Lightweight (135 pounds) 12-Round Championship Match:

Antonio DeMarco (22-1-1, 16 KO's, 134.5 pounds) vs. Jose Alfaro (23-4, 1 NC, 20 KO's, 134.5 pounds)

 

 

This belt is being created in this match. The actual WBC 135-pound titlist is Venezuelan Edwin Valero. (Valero was mistakenly listed as being from Mexico in the last recap. Thanks to Scott for the correction.) Valero is supposed to make a mandatory defense of his belt against DeMarco, but that may not happen anytime soon. The Venezuelan is having visa problems, because of a series of felonies he is accused of in the United States. Therefore, this interim belt is being created to appease DeMarco.

 

DeMarco came to prominence with a technical knockout victory at 3:00 of round 9 over Almazbek "Kid Diamond" Raiymkulov on February 7, 2009 at the Pond in Anaheim, California. This was the only televised undercard match on a Showtime event featuring Vic Darchinyan vs. Jorge Arce. The thinking was that having the Mexican Arce on the card would draw a heavy Latino audience, who would embrace DeMarco, a native of Tijuana, Mexico, should the prospect perform well against Diamond. DeMarco won, but it was not a crowd pleasing performance. The match was marred by numerous fouls. It was eventually stopped in the corner after round 9, when Diamond said he was too injured to continue. That was after the doctor ruled Diamond was fit to continue. A full recap of this match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/7/5/recap-of-antonio-demarco-vs-kid-diamond.html

 

DeMarco defeated Anges Adjaho in his only match since the victory over Diamond by knockout at 2:59 of round 9 by knockout to become the mandatory contender to Valero's belt on July 11 at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida. The early part of this match was awful. The opening rounds featured as much action as the average Great Khali match. DeMarco was so lethargic that he gave away the majority of these early rounds. DeMarco's trainer urged the boxer to increase his workrate after round 3. The boxer responded with all the enthusiasm Booker T showed in his last few months in TNA. This match was so boring, that the normally exuberant Gus Johnson, who was doing play-by-play of this event, was calling this match like a like night DJ on a smooth jazz station that is trying not to wake the audience up while announcing he was about to play more Kenny G. The match continued to be contested at a leisurely pace, meaning after 7 rounds Adjaho was ahead on the scorecard. Despite this deliberate pace, Adjaho ran out of gas in round 8. Then the match completely changed. Adjaho was so exhausted in round 8 that his hands had dropped substantially. That created the best action round of the match, so far, and DeMarco won it. The match then ended strangely in round 9. With 12 seconds to go in round 9, Adjaho was hit with a hard left hand. That caused Adjaho to step back and take a knee with 10 seconds to go in the round. DeMarco tried to press his advantage as Adjaho stepped back and landed a grazing left hand to the back of the head as the boxer from Benin had just taken a knee. It was an insignificant punch. However, Adjaho was looking for a way out of the match and saw this as his opportunity. Adjaho had the energy to complain to the referee. Then Adjaho proved to be a poor actor, turning his head and laying face-down on the match. Adjaho was trying to appear like he was in so much pain he was crying on the canvas. The referee applied a count, so that Adjaho could hear him. Then the second the referee waved off the match, Adjaho stood up acting perfectly fine to complain about the stoppage. It was a very sad display. A full recap of this debacle can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/10/27/recap-of-antonio-demarco-vs-anges-adjaho.html

 

DeMarco is The Ring magazine's number 9 contender at 135 pounds to their champion in the weight class, Juan Manuel Marquez.

Alfaro is a former 135-pound titlist. On December 29, 2007, Alfaro defeated Prawet Singwancha by split decision at Seidensticker Halle in Bielefeld, Germany to capture a form of the WBA 135-pound belt. The WBA was creating a new vacant 135-pound title in this match. That is because their normal title holder, Juan Diaz, had been elevated to become a "Super" champion. This allowed the WBA to create a fake belt and collect more sanctioning fees. The belt that Alfaro held the was equivalent of ROH's old Number 1 Contender's Trophy. Like the ROH Number 1 Contender's Trophy, boxer's are required to defend their trinket until they receive a shot at the actual title. Unfortunately, Alfaro never received a shot at the actual WBA belt. That is because he dropped his version of the belt in his first defense. On May 19, 2008, Alfaro lost via technical knockout to Yusuke Kobori at 2:08 of round at Differ Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. (In fact, no one who holds that belt has ever received a shot at the real belt. That has allowed the WBA to collect sanctioning fees on 2 belts for years, rather then unify them. At this point, it does not appear those belts can be unified until the middle of 2010 at the earliest. That means a lot more sanctioning money for the WBA.)

 

This is Alfaro's first time boxing in the United States. He has only been to the United States one other time. Alfaro had a layover at the airport in Miami, Florida on his way to the match with Kobori in Tokyo. The Nicaraguan reportedly spent most of his time in Miami at the airport gift shop. Alfaro has only come to Las Vegas less then 1 week before this match. That may be a huge mistake. For someone who has never been to the United States, there can be a huge culture shock going to Las Vegas. There is usually a huge culture shock for people from the United States traveling to Las Vegas for the first time. One person traveling to Las Vegas for the first time, who arrived at night adeptly described it "as if Disneyland exploded" with all of the flashing lights and pageantry. That person also stayed at Treasure Island, where Alfaro is likely staying. It could be a big distraction to a newcomer that there is a pirate ship battle outside the casino about 3 times every night.

 

Alfaro's last match to earn him this interim title shot was a 10-round unanimous decision victory over Moises Castro on June 6, 2009 at Polideportivo Espana in Managua, Nicaragua. Castro entered the match 3-4-1 with 2 no contests in his last 10 matches. In fact, the last time Alfaro has even defeated a boxer coming in off a single victory was 8 matches ago. Alfaro defeated Arturo Gomez by knockout in round 2 on July 13, 2007 at the Casino Pharaohs in Managua.

 

Alfaro is unranked by The Ring, and ranked by boxrec.com as the number 44 boxer in the world at 135 pounds.

 

At 23-years old, DeMarco is 2 years younger than the 25-year-old Alfaro. DeMarco has the height advantage standing 5' 9" tall, while Alfaro stands 5' 8" tall. Both boxers have a 71" wingspan. Neither boxers' unofficial weight approaching match time is available, but it appears the thicker Alfaro might be slightly heavier when the boxers stand next to each other in the ring. Both boxers are naturally right handed. However, only Alfaro will box out of the orthodox stance. DeMarco will employ the southpaw stance.

 

The unified rules of boxing are in effect for this event. Limited instant replay for the referee to review whether a blow that lead to an immediate stoppage was caused by a legal blow or foul is in place for the first time at this boxing event in Nevada and for all events going forward. The rule was just put into place on October 27. The use of instant replay is at the sole discretion of the referee. The rule is a lot more complicated, but that will only be dealt with should the need arise. Two of the judges keeping official score of this match from ringside are from Nevada and the other is from Arizona. The referee is Joe Cortez.

 

DeMarco easily wins a deliberate round 1, 10-9. Both boxers are listed as having the same wingspan. However, DeMarco clearly has the longer arms and is able to dominate the match when it is contested on the outside. DeMarco's arms are so much longer than Alfaro's, that Alfaro cannot even get within punching range of DeMarco on the outside when DeMarco consistently uses his jab. With 55 seconds to go in round 2, Alfaro goes to he mat when the Nicaraguan misses when lunging to tie-up DeMarco. The referee correctly rules it a slip and the action is resumed with 50 seconds to go in the round. DeMarco controlled the distance in round 2 and won it huge, 10-9. Alfaro is not very durable with 2 knockout losses in his career. If DeMarco is able to produce a few more rounds like round 2, this should be a very short night for the native of Tijuana. Sometime in round 2, blood began to flow out of the left nostril of Alfaro. DeMarco lands a few good power punches to win round 3, 10-9, and after 3 rounds leads on my scorecard, 30-27. The 3 members of press row all have DeMarco ahead after 3 rounds: 30-27, 30-27, 30-27.

 

DeMarco wins a relatively slow round 4, 10-9. This match is being contested at a very slow pace for boxers at 135 pounds. Still, it is by far the most entertaining DeMarco match this year. To open round 5, there is some swelling under the left eye of Alfaro. It is from repeated right hands. Alfaro has started holding his left hand higher to protect the eye. The Nicaraguan is having significant problems with the entire left side of his face. Since round 2, Alfaro has been trying to wipe the blood away from his left nostril and now he is trying to wipe at his left eye. The boxer's breathing and vision are clearly badly inhibited at this point and his body language is letting DeMarco know that. Therefore, DeMarco is further targeting the injured part of Alfaro's face. With around 50 seconds to go in round 5, DeMarco is beginning to bleed from both nostrils. Round 5 is the best action round of the match. DeMarco is continuing to try to move and box on the outside. The problem is that DeMarco is not particularly good at that. DeMarco circles very slowly on the outside. Therefore. Alfaro is continually able to apply pressure and trap DeMarco in corners. However, Alfaro has not been able to land combinations when he finally has DeMarco pinned. In round 5, Alfaro was able to land his combinations. Unfortunately, DeMarco landed a few more hard combinations to win round 5, 10-9, and leads on my scorecard after 5 rounds, 50-45. This has not been a very hard match to score, and all 3 members of the press have DeMarco ahead after 5 rounds: 50-45, 50-45, 50-45.

 

DeMarco easily wins a much slower round 6, 10-9. In the last 15 seconds of round 7, there is some swelling forming under the right eye of DeMarco. That is from being hit by repeated left hooks. DeMarco appears to land more punches to win round 7, 10-9. The pace of this match slowed to a crawl in round 8. Still in round 8, DeMarco was able to land a hard body shot and combination that had Alfaro badly hurt. That means DeMarco wins round 8 easily, 10-9, and leads on my scorecard after 8 rounds, 80-72. After round 8, a close-up in the corner reveals that there is severe swelling under both of Alfaro's eyes. Alfaro's trainer then urgently tells his charge that the boxer is running out of time to do something to win this match. Unfortunately, there is no fire in Alfaro's eyes showing a look of urgency. It is clear to everyone that Alfaro needs a knockout, which at this point is terrible news. Alfaro has never knocked out an opponent past round 8 and DeMarco has not even been knocked down in his professional boxing career. This is a very easy match to score, and after 8 rounds all 3 members of press row scoring the match for Showtime have DeMarco ahead: 80-72, 80-72, 80-72.

 

DeMarco wins a closer round 9, 10-9. That round was relatively close enough that some judges may score it for Alfaro out of pity. With 2:20 to go in round 10, Alfaro takes a hard right hook to the temple and goes stumbling into the ropes. That should be a knockdown, because the ropes were the only thing keeping Alfaro standing. The referee is not ruling a knockdown. Instead, he is ordering the action to resume with 2:14 to go in round 10. DeMarco immediately pins Alfaro against the ropes and unleashes a combination. That causes Alfaro to take a knee to recover with 2:10 to go in the round. None of the punches in that combination forced Alfaro to a knee. Alfaro took a knee, because he was still hurt from the right hook to the temple. This match needs to be stopped by the referee or Alfaro's corner. Alfaro dropped to a knee as a form of code that he needs out of this match. That is only the fourth time Alfaro has been knocked down in his professional career. Since Alfaro was not hurt by a punch in that combination, he stands up with 2:07 to go in the round. That was the second DeMarco backed away and headed to a neutral corner. Before the referee reached the count of 8, Alfaro looked out of the ring to further signify he wanted out of this match. The referee is going to allow the action to continue with 1:58 to go in round 10, but Alfaro is clearly out on his feet. Another right hook to the head has Alfaro crashing to the mat with 1:40 to go in round 11. The match has to be stopped at this point. Alfaro is able to make his feet, but is not even looking at the referee as he counts. Instead the boxer is staring out of the ring. The referee then looks out of the ring as he applies his count to see if Alfaro's trainer is up on the apron to stop this match. There is blood all around Alfaro's right eye as the referee foolishly allows the boxer to continue with still 1:28 to go in round 10. The 3 knockdown rule is not in effect for this event. With 52 seconds to go in round 10, Alfaro was trapped in the corner and decided to drop to a knee. Alfaro had only been knocked down 3 times in his professional career entering this match. He has now been knocked down 3 times in this round. The referee is stopping the match with 51 seconds to go in round 10, a moment after Alfaro's knee touched the canvas. That stoppage is a little late, but appropriate.

 

The official outcome courtesy of the always "Classy" Jimmy Lennon, Jr. is that at: 2:07 of round 10 the referee has called a stop to this match making the winner by technical knockout, still undefeated, and new Interim WBC Lightweight Champion of the World, Antonio "Tony" DeMarco. The official judges' scorecards all had DeMarco ahead at the time of the stoppage: 90-81, 89-82, 89-82. The latter 2 scorecards gave round 9 to Alfaro. The most experienced judge on the panel gave every round to DeMarco. The win moves DeMarco to 23-1-1 with now 17 wins coming by way of knockout.

 

DeMarco, still crying tears of happiness, was too overwhelmed with emotion to say much of note in his post-match interview. He just said that his promoter, Gary Shaw, would decide what his next match would be when asked about potentially going to face Valero in Venezuela. There is no way Shaw is sending DeMarco to Venezuela to face Valero. Shaw is a smart man and knows that no matter what happens in that match, DeMarco would not defeat Valero in Venezuela.

 

The new champion remained The Ring's number 9 contender at 135 pounds following this victory. DeMarco was dominant in this victory. This is the third straight time DeMarco has knocked out an opponent in the opening match of a Showtime Championship Boxing event. Still for a boxer who has 3 straight knockouts, he is boring to watch. His management wants him to box this defensive style to prolong his career. There are 2 significant problems with that style. The first is that boxers who employ that style have a very hard time drawing money, no matter how long their career is. The second problem is that DeMarco is not a particularly fast mover. DeMarco has just appeared very fast, because he has faced boxers that are very slow and limited. Should DeMarco face a boxer capable of applying effective pressure or that actually has good speed, he could be in real trouble. Valero has a style that could make DeMarco look very bad. DeMarco is either going to need to get much better at moving or develop more skills to deal with the division's top boxers. Should visa issues allow DeMarco to avoid Valero, he should continue to box against far more limited competition in the immediate future. DeMarco would be best to next face an opponent ranked around number 20 at 135 pounds in his next match, and move up his level opposition much more gradually.

 

Alfaro was bad in this match. It is clear he is not a world championship level boxer. The only reason Alfaro ever held a world title was because the WBA saw him as an easy payday and did not care about devaluing their belts. The Nicaraguan would have been a heavy underdog to beat the actual WBA Champion Juan Diaz to win the real WBA title. Alfaro will probably continue his career beating limited opposition in Nicaragua. With the plethora of belts out there, that may land him another title shot in the future.

 

 

 

Between matches Showtime's Jim Gray is going to interview Mike Tyson and Don King, who are actually standing next to each other. To say Tyson came off as sincere and likable in this interview is an understatement. Tyson said that he did not even expect to be alive at this age. For the record, Tyson is 43-years old. Tyson said he does not see himself making a comeback. He then joked that Don King could maybe make it happen. The way Tyson said that seemed to indicate he has no intentions of making a comeback. King's interview here is tremendous. King says that he always knew he and Tyson would reconcile. Gray kept asking about a comeback, which is frightening. However, neither King nor Tyson ever seemed to hint that a comeback was in the works. King merely gave the polite answer that Tyson could still be a great boxer, while knowing that is not true.

 

 

 

2. IBF Bantamweight (118 pounds) 12-Round Championship Match:

Joseph Agbeko (27-1, 22 KO's, 118 pounds) (c) vs. Yonnhy Perez (19-0, 14 KO's, 118 pounds)

 

 

Agbeko won this title by upsetting Luis Perez on September 29, 2007 at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, California. The native of Accra, Ghana came into the match as a lightly regarded mandatory challenger. Showtime was only televising the match to give Perez a high profile knockout victory that would springboard the native Nicaraguan into bigger things. Instead, Agbeko came out of the match looking like a star. The doctor stopped the match in the corner after round 7 saying it was unsafe for Perez to continue. That made Agbeko the new champion by technical knockout at 3:00 of round 7. A full recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2008/12/14/recap-of-joseph-agbeko-vs-luis-perez.html Agbeko is making only his third defense of his title in this match.

 

The champion has had a string of injuries and illnesses that have kept him out of competition since he won this belt. The string of injuries were not healing very quickly in the United States, where Agbeko now lives. Therefore, Agbeko went back to his native Ghana for treatment. In Ghana, the boxer contracted malaria. The injuries and illness limited Agbeko to 1 title defense in 2008. That was an exciting and controversial majority decision win over William Gonzalez on December 11 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. However, Agbeko did not appear to show any ring-rust in his return. The champion landed the harder punches to win a bloody and foul heavy brawl. A full recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/7/6/recap-of-joseph-agbeko-vs-william-gonzalez.html

 

Agbeko's last match was his most impressive victory to date. In the main event of the card that featured DeMarco-Adjaho, Agbeko won a 12-round unanimous decision over Vic Darchinyan, who was at the time The Ring's number 8 ranked boxer in the world, pound-for-pound. This was such a major match in Ghana, that even though United States President Barack Obama was in Ghana visiting their President, John Atta Mills, President Mills took time out to call Agbeko on the day of the match. In the ring, Agbeko and Darchinyan had a sloppy encounter that left the native Armenian looking badly disfigured. In round 1, Darchinyan was cut on the left eyelid. In round 4, there was swelling underneath Darchinyan's left eye from being hit with repeated hard right hands by the champion. In round 5, blood began to flow from the nose and mouth of Darchinyan. The cut above Darchinyan's left eye had stopped bleeding at this point, but Darchinyan looked mentally broken. After round 6, Agbeko made the throat slash gesture to acknowledge he knew Darchinyan was done. Then came a round 7 that was bungled by several officials. First, the timekeeper messed up badly and made the round go 4 minutes. The referee added to the timekeeper botch job, by ruling Agbeko was knocked down in the extra minute. In reality, Agbeko went down, because Darchinyan pulled down on Agbeko's head as the Armenian followed through on a punch. This comedy of errors turned a round that should have been scored for Agbeko, 10-9, into a round Darchinyan won, 10-8. This seemed to momentarily revive Darchinyan. He had his best round of the match in appearing to win round 9, 10-9. Agbeko answered by, in a match filled with dirty tactics, opening up a cut over Darchinyan's right eye, that immediately streamed blood with an unintentional head butt. Darchinyan was now blind to Agbeko's left hand and the swelling under the Armenian's left eye made it difficult to see the right hand coming. In frustration, Darchinyan grabbed a side headlock and flung Agbeko to the ground. The frustrated Darchinyan opened round 11 by simply pushing the Bronx, New York resident to the mat. Two of the scorecards were shockingly close, having Agbeko only winning by a point, 114-113. Still, it was clear what happened and the respect for Agbeko has grown following that victory. A full recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/10/28/recap-of-joseph-agbeko-vs-vic-darchinyan.html

 

Agbeko is The Ring's number 4 contender to their vacant championship at 118 pounds.

 

Yonnhy Perez had an extensive amateur boxing career of 247 amateur matches in which he won several national amateur championships in his native Colombia. After that Perez had a 7.5 year military commitment, that forced the boxer to turn pro at a relatively advanced age, especially for a lighter weight boxer. Perez made his pro debut at 26-years old with a technical knockout victory over Steve Lozoya 1:52 into round 1 on July 30, 2005 at the Desert Diamond Casino in Tucson, Arizona.

 

Perez has been built up for this title shot steadily over the last several years. Perez has appeared on numerous ShoBox and ESPN2 events and was even in a featured non-televised undercard match at on May 2, 2008 where Oscar De La Hoya defeated Steve Forbes in front of the largest crowd to see a boxing event in the United States in more then a decade at the Home Depot Center. That night Perez defeated Manuel Sarabia via 6-round unanimous decision in what was simply a showcase match.

 

Perez' last match was a technical knockout victory at 1:06 of round 12 over Silence Mabuza on May 29, 2009 at the Springs Indoor Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa to become the mandatory challenger for this title. That was a major victory for Perez, who was losing on the official scorecards entering round 12 when he scored the knockout. Mabuza was by far the best opponent Perez had ever faced. No boxer has been actively ranked by The Ring at 118 pounds longer then Mabuza. at this time, Mabuza has been ranked by The Ring at 118 pounds for 364 straight weeks, the equivalent of about 7 years straight. Perez was unranked by The Ring when he scored his shocking knockout victory.

 

Perez is The Ring's number 5 contender at 118 pounds.

 

At 29-years old, Agbeko is 1 year younger then the 30-year-old Perez. Perez has the height advantage standing 5' 6" tall, while Agbeko stands 5' 5.5" tall. The challenger has the reach advantage with a 69" wingspan, compared to the champion's 65.5" wingspan. Neither boxers' unofficial weight approaching match time is available, but the other numbers suggest that Perez should be the slightly heavier boxer in the ring. Both boxers will employ the orthodox stance.

 

Two of the judges keeping official score of this match are from Nevada and the other is from Washington. The referee is Robert Byrd.

 

Joseph King Kong (real middle names) Agbeko is staging a special entrance for Halloween. He is wearing a gorilla mask and being lead out in fake chains by a woman dressed as Fay Wray. Even Perez is laughing at this entrance. It is quite clever, but its brilliance appears to have been lost on a lot of the audience. To them this could seem a bit tasteless and racially insensitive, since many of them would not know that Agbeko's real legal name on his birth certificate and passport is "King Kong". They could simply see this as a white woman leading around a chained-up black man wearing a gorilla mask. Ordinarily, that would look real bad. After Al Bernstein described that as one of the 10 best entrances he had ever seen, he clearly received a Vince McMahon style yelling at in his earpiece. Before the match, Bernstein was forced to say that he realized that entrance was a reference to the movie King Kong and could clearly be offensive to someone people. Bernstein was instructed to make clear that Showtime did not endorse that entrance and had no part in orchestrating it. Showtime would like it known that this entrance was a product of Agbeko's management team. Bernstein was just elected to the broadcasting wing of the Boxing Hall of Fame, but has just been taught what it is like to be Mike Adamle. That stuttering disclaimer was disconcerting to hear, knowing what was going on in Bernstein's earpiece.

 

Round 1 is a really good action round in stark contrast to the DeMarco-Alfaro match that opened this show. The boxers spent the entire round trading punches at close range. In a surprise, Perez appeared to hurt Agbeko at the end of round 1. That earns Perez round 1, 10-9. Round 2 is one of the best rounds of the year, but this crowd apparently does not care. Yet, they were enthusiastic for DeMarco in that boring match. These smaller boxers are trading power punches non-stop for 3 minutes and the crowd seems ready for a nap. Perez landed some huge left hooks that had Agbeko hurt to win round 2, 10-9. Round 3 is another great round where both boxers continued to trade power punches at a frenetic pace. This match is so great it should not be scored, but merely enjoyed as a work of art. This is what boxing is supposed to be. Still out of necessity round 3 must be scored, and it barely goes to Perez who is doing the most damage with his left hooks, 10-9, and after 3 rounds leads on my scorecard, 30-27. After 3 rounds, all 3 members of the press keeping score of this match at ringside for Showtime have Perez ahead: 29-28, 29-28, 29-28. Agbeko won round 3 on all of the press row scorecards, 10-9.

 

In round 4, Agbeko was dropping his left hand in an attempt to copy the outstanding defensive style employed by Floyd Mayweather, Jr. The problem is that Agbeko is not close to the level of defensive boxer that Mayweather is. Therefore by dropping his lead left hand, the champion opened himself up to combinations and consistent body punching from the challenger. All of that means Perez wins round 4, 10-9. At the start of round 5, Bernstein has completely changed his tune on Agbeko's entrance. He said that he hopes this match is redeeming Agbeko's entrance. This is one of the best matches of the year, and in fact one of the best matches of the last several years. Unfortunately, if people took that entrance the wrong way it will be pretty much impossible to make up for that. The boxers continue to work at such a fast pace in round 5 that it is getting exhausting to watch. Agbeko appeared to land a few good right hands to win a very close round 5, 10-9. At this point, both boxers appear very tired from the non-stop punching, but refuse to be the first 1 to slow down. This was expected to be a match between a boxer and a puncher. Instead it has turned into a battle of wills with both boxers insisting on trading punches at close range until someone breaks. In the waning seconds of round 6, Perez was cut on the forehead by an accidental clash of heads. The cut is over Perez' left eye and if it gets opened up badly will bleed directly into the boxer's eye. Perez lands numerous combinations to win round 6, 10-9, and leads on my scorecard after 6 rounds, 59-55. After 6 rounds, press row scoring has Perez winning the match via majority decision: 58-56, 57-57, 58-56.

 

The sight of blood seems to have inspired Agbeko to box at an even faster pace in this already high paced match. The champion, possibly powered by bloodlust, wins round 7 decisively, 10-9. In the corner after round 7, Perez' trainer told the boxer to sit on his lead. That may not be the best strategy, since based on press row scoring Perez, probably does not have a big lead and may not even have a lead at all. Perez completely ignored his corner's instructions, which resulted in a great round 8 where the boxers continued to trade power punches at an amazing pace. The challenger probably got the best of the exchanges to win round 8, 10-9, and after 8 rounds Perez leads on my scorecard, 78-74. After 8 rounds, press row scoring has Perez winning via split decision: 77-75, 75-77, 77-75.

 

Perez landed several hard combinations to take round 9, 10-9. With 34 seconds to go in round 10, there appears to be a clash of heads that causes Agbeko to stop and turn away from Perez in pain. Unfortunately, for the champion the referee did not call timeout or remember the rule to protect himself at all times. Perez seized his advantage and landed a left hook to the body that dropped Agbeko to all four's on the canvas with 31 seconds to go in round 10. Agbeko complains to the referee as he stands up at the referee's count of 3. It does not do the boxer, who is infamous for head butts, any good. The referee was standing behind Agbeko and out of position to see the head butt. The official rules Agbeko is fit to continue and orders the action to resume with 17 seconds to go in the round. In slow motion, it is clear there was a clash of heads that resulted in Agbeko suffering the knockdown. Showtime is telling viewers that is the first knockdown of Agbeko's amateur or professional boxing career. Unfortunately, as noted above, Agbeko was erroneously ruled to have been knocked down in his last match vs. Darchinyan. That was carried by Showtime in July, and Bernstein was the color commentator for that match, too. Nevada has instituted limited instant replay starting with this event. A replay would cancel that call if the match were stopped because of the head butt. In fact, a replay would give this round to Agbeko, 10-9. Unfortunately, only New Jersey has that extensive a replay system. Therefore, the incorrect knockdown call gives Perez round 10, 10-8, and he leads on my scorecard after 10 rounds 98-91. After round 10, there is blood coming out of the champion's nose. After 10 rounds, press row scoring has Perez winning via split decision: 97-92, 94-95, 96-93.

 

Continuing to work at an astonishing pace and land numerous combinations, Perez wins round 11, 10-9. Both boxers are very tired at this point, especially Perez. Almost all of the power is gone from Perez' punches, which have become very wide. Agbeko has paced himself in the last few rounds to throw hard single punches and short combinations. The champion would have knocked out most opponents, but Perez' incredible workrate has not allowed Agbeko to put together enough punches to finish the challenger. Perez' trainer gave his charge very different advice from his earlier instructions. The challenger was told to keep his hands up, but to remember he has to take the title from the champion. That means Perez should not be boxing defensively in the final round of this match. Agbeko appeared to land the harder punches to take a very close round 12, 10-9, but Perez still wins the match on my scorecard, 117-110. The 3 unofficial scorekeepers on press row have Perez winning this match via split decision: 116-111, 113-114, 115-112. No matter the final scoring, this was a phenomenal match. The pace never slowed from the opening minute of the match, which seemed unfathomable. A close-up after the match shows that Perez' left eye is nearly swollen shut. Perez probably had no vision out of that eye in the last part of round 12. Yet, he refused to back down and stop trading power punches with the champion. Neither boxers' will could be broken in this punishing encounter.

 

It is taking a very long time for the scorecards to be added up. As a rule, that means something bad is about to happen. The official decision courtesy of the "Classy" Jimmy Lennon, Jr. is that the judges have scored this match: 116-111, 117-110, 117-110, all for the winner by unanimous decision, still undefeated and the new IBF Bantamweight Champion of the World, Yonnhy Perez. The blown knockdown call proved to be no factor in the decision. Had the round gone to Agbeko, 10-9, Perez still would have won the match via unanimous decision. In that case the final official scores would have been: 115-113, 116-112, 116-112. What is interesting is that the judges came to their similar scores completely differently. They frequently disagreed on who won which rounds, but all came to the same general conclusion. The win moves Perez to 20-0 with 14 wins coming by way of knockout.

 

Perez said in his post match interview that he felt that the judges scored the match correctly. The new champion said he is open to doing a rematch. That is probably the biggest money match available for either boxer.

 

Agbeko in his post match interview said that he thought he won the match. The former champion then complained about the blown knockdown call, which as noted earlier was not a factor in the outcome of this match. Agbeko said he stopped defending himself after the head butt, because he thought he was cut. Unfortunately, Agbeko was not cut on that clash of heads. Of course, Agbeko wants a rematch.

 

Now for the obligatory post-match interview with Agbeko's promoter, Don King. King says there should be a rematch, because he did not agree with the judges' decision. The promoter is now properly apologizing to Tommy Kimmons, who blew the knockdown call in the Agbeko-Darchinyan match. King called Kimmons "a crooked referee" and the "worst I have ever seen" in the ring following that match. None of those were close to true and King was completely out of line. Of course the event was so memorable that King got confused, and thought Kimmons was the referee of the DeMarco-Adjaho match. Still this was overdue, and it was very good of King to apologize here.

 

Following this victory, Perez has been moved up 1 spot in The Ring rankings to replace Agbeko as the number 4 contender at 118 pounds. Perez was great in this match. He far exceeded any expectations people had for him entering this match. Perez was viewed as a boxer that likes to move and box with very little power. In this match, Perez proved he could brawl and land powerful combinations. The powerful left hook Perez unveiled in this match was a complete shock. The only reason Perez did not win by knockout is because he was in the ring against an extremely tough opponent. It makes the most sense for Perez to do an immediate rematch with Agbeko. Showtime would love to carry that match, and it is probably the best paying match he could get. Hopefully, they can get the next match in a building at least the size of what ROH routinely runs. Unfortunately for the new champion, the best place to get a large crowd is to go to Agbeko's adopted hometown of New York City. This match could probably sellout the Hammerstein Ballroom.

 

After this loss, Agbeko was only dropped 1 spot in The Ring rankings to replace Perez as the number 5 contender at 118 pounds. Probably the first thing that should be addressed with Agbeko is his controversial entrance. For the record, I thought it was entertaining. It was subtle and clever. Unfortunately, that it is what made it a failure. It was so subtle that it was lost on most people. The problem with the entrance were clear immediately and someone should have nixed it. This was an idea that was very good on paper, but did not work in execution. That is really unfortunate, because it made a lot of people look bad and it made have contributed to the lack of crowd reaction this match received. As for his performance in the ring, Agbeko was better in this match, then he was in dominating Darchinyan. Agbeko kept up a ridiculous workrate throughout the match. The former champion landed so many hard power punches, that he too should have scored a knockout. The only thing Agbeko might be able to do to change the result in a rematch would be to throw more combinations. Otherwise, this may have been the best match Agbeko is capable of producing. However, he is going to have to do better in what seems to be an inevitable immediate rematch.

 

 

 

The first match on this card was boring. The crowd tried to pretend it was entertaining, but it was not. The second match on the card was one of the best matches of the last few years as the crowd tried to pretend it was awful. The 2 matches were buffered by the awe inspiring image of King and Tyson doing an interview together. It is recommended that people tune in about 50 minutes into this broadcast to avoid most of the first match and catch the greatness that is the remainder of this show.

 

 

News and Notes: First, the addendum to the video game review. The member of THE BOARD with the screen name "jasonowen" joked that the Shawn Michaels storyline needed more cowbell. He was being facetious and referencing an old Saturday Night Live sketch starring Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken. (It was great, and a copy of it can be found here: http://www.buzzhumor.com/videos/28180/More_Cowbell) The thing is that THE BOARD member's joke was actually a really good idea. This storyline really did need more cowbell. In the Michaels storyline, Michaels is badly injured when JBL beats him down with a cowbell in a cut scene. The game features wrestlers getting beaten down in numerous cut scenes. This cut scene is special, though. The ferocity of the beating Michaels takes from JBL and the cowbell make it one of the heavier angles in the game. This leads to an I Quit Match. Unfortunately, the story progression does not really lead to an I Quit Match. That seemed shoehorned in at the end. However, the story does lead perfectly to a Texas Bullrope Match. It is a career vs. career match at the end. The story does not really give a reason that JBL should be putting his career on the line. However, if he is putting his career on the line, it should be in the match of his choosing. JBL is a specialist in Texas Bullrope Matches. JBL defeated the late Eddie Guerrero in a Texas Bullrope Match to win his WWE Championship. Also, what better way is there for 2 wrestlers who were born and still live in Texas to settle a feud. (The whole thing about JBL living in New York City is just a gimmick. JBL actually still officially resides and pays taxes in Texas. This is in large part due to the much friendlier tax laws in that state. The man is a millionaire for a reason.) For Michaels to beat JBL in JBL's specialty match with the weapon that injured him (Michaels) would be a perfect way to end that story. Unfortunately, the lack of a Texas Bullrope Match in the game made the best finish for the Michaels story impossible. Still, it is clear that this story really needed more cowbell. The full review of SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 for the XBOX 360 can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/10/29/review-of-smackdown-vs-raw-2010-for-the-xbox-360.html

 

Next, in a video game tie-in to Agbeko's entrance, here is a really good idea on paper that will never happen. Some of the people at Microsoft came up with the bright idea to market Halo bed sheets. They would easily sell thousands of those. The problem is that would make it appear they were marketing the game to children, so the idea got permanently nixed by higher-ups at Microsoft. (However, the United States military uses Halo to market to children, but since it is a video game no one that would normally get upset notices. For the record, the British military does the same thing. It is very effective at hitting the target demographic and it is also cost effective.)

 

The staph infection in a finger on Kelly Pavlik's left hand is causing the boxer more problems. At this point, the infection is gone, but Pavlik's hand is not recovering well from the 2 surgeries required to get rid of it. The hand is still so severely damaged that Pavlik cannot close his left hand. Therefore, on October 21 Pavlik had to pull out of his match with Paul Williams scheduled for  December 5. That was the second time Pavlik had to pull out of a scheduled title defense against Williams. The match was originally scheduled for October 3. This same staph infection also caused Pavlik to pull out of a scheduled title defense against Sergio Mora in June. Pavlik had the 2 surgeries on his left hand after the Mora match was canceled. The cancellation of the December 5 Pavlik-Williams match has lead to the cancellation of the entire event that was scheduled to be held at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey and telecast in the United States on HBO. HBO may televise another event that day, but Boardwalk Hall had no interest in hosting that boxing event without Pavlik, who has become one of the top draws at the arena. HBO was going to televise Joshua Clottey vs. Carlos Quintana in a 10-round 149-pound catch weight match to open the telecast. That match has been canceled, because if Williams can find a replacement opponent for that day it will not involve Bob Arum's Top Rank Promotions. That means the Top Rank Promoted Clottey is off the card.

 

On October 21, Danish promoter Mogens Palle filed a lawsuit against Showtime in a Manhattan, New York federal court claiming they conspired to help Mikkel Kessler break his promotional contract and take part in the Super Six World Boxing Classic. Kessler had been with Palle for years, but after a series of problems in the last couple years jumped to German promoter Sauerland Event. Palle claims Showtime was unwilling to work with the promotion to put together a different six-person 168-pound tournament. This story is so illogical it is not possible to explain all of its erroneous premises in a reasonable number of words. Kessler's former promoter is asking for $75,000 in compensatory damages and the punitive damages to be determined by a jury. That is code for he just wants some money to go away.

 

The Ring's 200-pound champion Tomasz Adamek defeated Andrew Golota via technical knockout in round 5 in a heavyweight match on October 24 at the Ludz Arena in Ludz, Poland. This was apparently one of the biggest sporting events in the history of Poland. The event shattered the attendance record at Ludz Arena, which is the largest arena in Poland, drawing nearly 17,000 people. It was watched by over 13 million people in a country of 40 million. That makes it equivalent to the viewership the Super Bowl gets in the United States. The match was filmed with 23 HD cameras. It is unclear what that many cameras could actually film simultaneously at a boxing event. The action in the ring on most shows is shot with about 3 cameras. The only other event to receive such extensive television coverage was when the Polish soccer team played in the World Cup. Adamek vacated his IBF title to take the match with Golota, which is somewhat unfortunate. Adamek's mandatory contender is The Ring's number 1 contender at 200 pounds Steve Cunningham. Adamek and Cunningham had an outstanding match to fill the vacant Ring Championship headlining the card the featured Agbeko vs. William Gonzalez and it would be great to see a rematch between the 2. Cunningham will now face Matt Godfrey for the belt Adamek vacated.

  

Versus reached a deal this week to televise the Roy Jones-Danny Green match in Australia on same-day tape delay as part of a double header with the Bernard Hopkins-Enrique Ornelas match they will be airing live on December 2 from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. That should build as well as possible to the Jones-Hopkins match scheduled to take place on HBO pay-per-view in early 2010.

 

There is some more good news concerning that December 2 event. Hopkins has announced that $3 from every ticket sold to his match on December 2 will go to charity. Three charities are each going to receive $1 dollar out of the $3 collected.

 

Finally, in a sport overrun with meaningless titles, the WBC has decided to create a slew of new meaningless titles. They are now going to sanction belts that will be given out in 4- and 6-round matches held in Mexico, where the WBC is based. They will be boxing's answer to little league trophies.

 

 

 

The next recap will be of the November 7 HBO event featuring the rematch between Chad Dawson and Glen Johnson.