He added he wasn’t all that overwhelmed by his victory over Darchinyan. To him, he merely did what was expected of him.
" I wasn’t really impressed. I was actually a little bit disappointed," he said." I thought that being the bigger man he should have been able to handle him a little bit better. It’s like me moving up to 122 or 126 and trying to beat a bigger man, which, in reality, doesn’t work that way. So I was not that impressed."
Which is true, Darchinyan, for all his accomplishments, was unproven at 118-pounds and has since moved back to jr. bantamweight. In Perez, Agbeko if facing a full-blooded bantamweight. A big one, at that. And unlike ’the Raging Bull’, Perez comes with a two-fisted attack.
" Vic was trying to throw that left all night long and he got neutralized from the first round. And yes, he’s a 115-pounder but the day of the fight he looked like he was 130," pointed out Alex Camponovo, General Manager and Matchmaker for Thompson Boxing Promotions, which co-promotes Perez, with Gary Shaw." I think height is very important. Yonnhy’s a little big bigger, he’s a big, big bantamweight. He’s never gone up or down from his weight. And he’s very hungry, he’s so hungry to make a name for himself, to be able to get bigger purses. I think that’s going to have a lot to do with this fight."
Perez fought like the very epitome of a hungry fighter when he stopped Mabuza in the 12Th and final round of their see-saw contest in late May, which is one of the better fights of 2009.
" I was extremely happy. I was thrilled that I was able to win. But what I remember the most was going into the 12Th round and knowing that it was a very difficult fight for me throughout the first 11 rounds. It was a very close fight and I knew that I only had one opportunity, which was the last round. I asked God for strength to help me. He was the only one who knew how hard I had worked to get to that point. He knew how tough it was to get that opportunity. I remembered my kids back in Columbia and all the needs that my family has. I went out there with all my faith and trust in my preparation, and the result, you know. Obviously I was very happy that I had the opportunity and the chance to beat Mabuza in South Africa."
" It was an amazing fight," said Camponovo, who was there ringside." Yonnhy was probably losing by one or two points. I think we were even on the Italian judges card but we were losing on the other two. It was a back-and-forth battle, Silence, obviously, wanted to knock Yonnhy out from the first round. I remember the fourth round, Yonnhy got in big trouble, he got hit with a bunch of good body shots and he was up against the ropes and for the first time I thought he was going to go down and stay down. But he kept on, poured it on the whole 12 rounds."
When Perez was asked on the conference call if that victory had raised his self belief at all, he replied," Of course it was a boost of confidence, but one thing that everyone needs to be aware of is that my confidence didn’t come just from that fight. I have my confidence in my preparation and I’m confident every time I step in that ring, no matter who I’m facing. Beating Mabuza was a great deal for me, but I had confidence in my power and my ability even before I stepped in the ring, and the same thing is going to happen on October 31st."
In what is a very talented division( which also includes the likes of Hozumi Hasegawa and Anselmo Moreno), Agbeko-Perez is one of the best fights that can be made.
" Both guys are on top of their games, right now. You have a very confident champion that doesn’t want to do anything but take Yonnhy Perez out and Yonnhy’s a very hungry lion that’s going after him. And the styles match up very well in that fight," said Camponovo." Agbeko throws a lot of punches, he’s got great head movement. Yonnhy, throws a million punches and he’s in great shape and doesn’t stop. So he’s relentless.
" It should be a very, very entertaining fight."
Perez seems undaunted by the challenge that lies ahead of him.
" I’m ready for any type of battle to happen in the ring," he stated." I don’t want to make a prediction of my own, but as far as what Agbeko said coming into this fight and predicting a knockout, it’s OK. That’s why I live in this country, there’s freedom of speech. He can say whatever he wants about any issue. I’ve traveled to Africa and I know how the fighters of that continent are. I know they can talk more than what they can actually do in the ring.
" He shouldn’t spit up in the air because all that’s going to fall right on his face."
24/7
I thought that ’24/7’ on HBO for the November 14Th showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto got off to a pretty good start. I think because the personalities are so mellow between the two, there will be more substance than style in this edition.
A few thoughts on episode one:
- I’m glad they addressed the conflict between Pacquiao’s strength-and-conditioning coach Alex Ariza and adviser Mike Konzc. How they didn’t even talk about the suitcase full of money given to ’the Pac Man’ by Oscar De La Hoya was particularly egregious and really hurt the credibility of ’24/7’ last year. Yeah, I know, the promoters have a large say in how this is produced, but you can’t tell me that particular issue wasn’t a large reason why that Pacquiao-De La Hoya was consummated.
Yeah, I know these things are an infomercial, but shouldn’t there be some truth in advertising?
- Loved how Freddie Roach just stepped up to his fighter and told him he’s bolting out of Baguio before the next big storm hits. The look on Manny’s face was priceless. And no, this was not staged( in the past I’ve compared 24/7 to ’the Hills’) but I know this right here was the real thing.
- HBO captured some real chilling footage of the damage done by the typhoon that ravaged the Philippines. It just gives you the sense of just how important Pacquiao is to these people. They don’t have a lot to cheer for, but Manny’s performances give them a sense of joy and hope, in an otherwise tough, arduous lifestyle.
POLE-AXE
Yeah, I admit it, I thought Andrew Golota would make things much tougher on Tomasz Adamek than he did. But Adamek, making his heavyweight debut blew out ’the Foul Pole’ in five rounds. And I have to say, I was pretty impressed by Adamek, who seems to have carried a good deal of his power up with him to the heavyweight class.
Yeah, I know that Golota is a shopworn fighter, and we need to see how Adamek deals with a heavyweight who still has his reflexes left, but this guy brings a much needed infusion of excitement to this division. I don’t know how he would deal with the size, reach and style of the Klitschko’s but wouldn’t you love to see him matched up with the likes of Chris Arreola or David Tua down the line?
I don’t know about you, but I think we’ve seen the last of Adamek as a cruiser.
FINAL FLURRIES
Antonio DeMarco and Jose Alfaro duke it out for the WBC interim lightweight title to open up the Showtime broadcast this upcoming weekend....Kermit Cintron stayed busy over the weekend by stopping Juliano Ramos in five rounds...Disappointing loss for the ’Canes. But really a backward step for Randy Shannon and his staff, that made several head-scratching decisions. You play that sloppy, and you really don’t deserve to win....Is Miles Austin now officially Tony Romo’s go-to guy in Dallas?....Can the Lakers repeat? Anything short of it, will be a buzz-kill. Just have to keep Andrew ’Kid’ Bynum-ite healthy. I propose that Phil Jackson sit him down every time they play Memphis. So the goal is to get him to play 78 regular season games....So Sam Bradford says he will enter this next NFL draft after shoulder surgery. Shouldn’t he have entered last years draft?....Good to see the real Raiders back....Hey, if Los Angeles is getting back into the NFL, we don’t want the Rams....We’re trying to get the one and only Don King for the upcoming edition of ’the Main Event’.....If you have any lingering problems with your Maxboxing account or would like to send in a question or comment for me at ’the Main Event’ please do so at
k9kim@yahoo.com....Twitter.com/stevemaxboxing....
**This week’s Edition of "The Main Event" Championship Radio with Host, Steve Kim. Click Here
