Joseph Agbeko feels the pain of one of 28 low blow punches from Abner Mares, who was not penalized for the punches.
In case you missed the world bantamweight title fight between Joseph “King Kong” Agbeko and Abner Mares that took place last Saturday at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas, here’s what happened. Agbeko was robbed of his IBF title by a referee who was inexperienced and needs to go back to school to learn how it should be done.
Judges Oren Shellenberger and Adalaide Byrd each scored the bout 115-111 for Mares and C.J Ross had it 113-113.
In a fight that went the distance, throughout the bout Agbeko was hit with at least 28 low blows (counted by compu-box punch stats) and not once was a point taken from Mares. And even referee Russell Mora’s first round ruling that Agbeko was knocked down by a Mares left hook looked amiss when replays showed that Mares had stepped on Agbeko’s foot right before the shot. Agbeko lost his footing and stumbled through the ropes.
The issue was that too many of the body blows were at Agbeko’s belt. Mora warned Mares not throw low, but there were occasions, especially in the 10th round, when it appeared Mares deserved to lose a point.
World-class referee Brian Garry from Florida had harsh comments regarding Mora.
“Some can, some can’t,” Garry said. “As a boxing referee for 25 years inside the circle, I was very displeased to watch Russell Mora’s inept ability to make the call on Saturday night. He was in the right positions to see the blows especially the low blow in the 11th that possibly cost Joseph Agbeko the bout. What compounded his lack of making the right call was his post fight denial, after viewing the replay of his decision that shows us that he is either corrupt and refused to be fair in “third man” assignment. Good judgment is what they pay us for”.
What needs to happen is the Nevada State Commission to suspend Mora and call for a re-match of the bout. That would be fair and proper for Agbeko. And if they do not do that, Nevada Senator Harry Reid needs to step into the picture and put pressure on the Commission to do something that would give in this situation some justice.
In other boxing news, Top Rank Inc. has announced that Julio Ceasar Chavez Jr., 43-0-1 with 30 knockouts, will meet Ronald Hearns, 26-2 with 20 knockouts, on September 17th in Culiacan Sinaloa, Mexico.
Hearns, who is the son of Thomas “Hit Man” Hearns, says, “I feel it will be an exciting fight, because we are two sons of boxers who left their mark. This will be a historic battle.”
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