411's Agbeko v. Dachinyan Report 07.11.09

Posted by A. Shakoor on 07.12.2009

I breakdown the main event and a few of the undercard bouts.



I had the pleasure of sitting ringside on press row for an outstanding boxing card this past Saturday night in Sunrise, Florida at the BankAtlantic Center. I must give credit to Don King and Gary Shaw for promoting one heck of a show. In the main event, Joseph "King Kong" Agbeko scored an upset over the challenger, Vic "Raging Bull" Darchinyan in a razor close unanimous decision. The overall event, undercard included, had a mix of excitement and controversy. Below, I'll break down the main event, and give you some insights on a few of the undercard bouts.

IBF Bantamweight Champion: Joseph Agbeko, 27-1 (22KOs) over Vic Darchinyan, 32-2-1 (26KOs) by Unanimous Decision, 114-113, 114-113, 116-111.

This bout didn't quite live up to the pre-fight hype and anticipation, but it was still quite the exciting championship scrap. If you recall from my preview column, I expected Darchinyan to wear Agbeko down over the course of the fight. Boy did I have it backwards. Both fighters started throwing heavy leather early in the fight. One thing you could tell from the outset is that Agbeko wasn't intimidated in the slightest by the event, or by the artillery from the hard-swinging challenger. In the first half of the fight I had both fighters alternately winning rounds 1-6. I think Agbeko was extremely effective with his lead rights and counter lefts. Man, did this man have quick reflexes, as he tagged the wild Darchinyan with counter hooks, and sneaky lead right hands. Early in the fight, the champion did occasionally get wild himself, and Vic had some success landing flesh shots to the face and body. The veteran Darchinyan, also successfully flurried to steal close rounds. Darchinyan was however, beginning to show serious cuts and bruising on his left eye, and his nose was bloodied.

Things got very interesting in round seven, when Agbeko went down from what clearly appeared to be a slip off of a Darchinyan push, but the referee ruled it a knockdown. I'm not sure how it looked to you all at home, but the crowd and we in the media were shocked at the missed call. Agbeko had already won the round comfortably up to the point of the controversial knockdown, so it was an even round at best. I had Agbeko and Darchinyan splitting rounds 8 and 9 respectively as both men had effective moments going to the body. Agbeko was still having success with short sneaky punches while, Vic had a decent ninth round with body shots and a couple of clean hard head shots. Darchinyan was beginning to tire though. And Agbeko proved to be unfazed by Vic's best shots. The man has a great chin, and perhaps Vic can't carry his pop up in weight to 118.

Agbeko really won me over as a fan in the championship rounds 10-12. He simply outclassed Darchinyan. He landed his sneaky short punches and continued his effective hooks and counter shots. Vic resorted to roughhouse tactics and faux bravado, but it was obvious that he was tired and frustrated. Agbeko never lost his cool and simply showed excellent patience on offense and slippery defense. He was also in extremely good condition, never seeming to look winded or stressed. Darchinyan sorely needed round 12, but the accumulation of punches showed on his bruised and bloodied face and his body language. He simply couldn't mount a successful attack in a round in which he needed to score a knockdown at the very least. Agbeko simply controlled the round like a true champ. After the bell, I totaled by scoresheet, and had Agbeko up 7-4, with 1 even. The two journalists next to me had Agbeko up bigger than that. We all, crowd included, were shocked to hear the two 114-113 scores. A third judge had it 116-111. At least the judges got the result right. As Nate "The Galaxy Warrior" Campbell exclaimed as he passed by our table, "The tried to rob, that [boy]".

Looking at the future of both fighters, I gotta say, Joseph Agbeko won a lot of fans. He proved to be a true, solid pro, and didn't get overwhelmed by the hype. Although he was occasionally wild at brief times, he fought a sharp effective fight overall. The man also showed some slippery defense and a good chin. Although, he has mentioned a move up to 122, I'd like to see him stay at 118 and try to dominate. He only weighed 1161/2 for this fight, and seemed to have weak legs at times. He also couldn't drop the weak-chinned Darchinyan. He is however, an excellent, classy fighter with a crowd pleasing style. I can't wait to see his next fight. An eventual defense against Donaire would make a lot of sense.



Vic Darchinyan has some decisions to make. He had talked about a move to 122, but that wouldn't make a great deal of sense considering his trouble in this fight with his lack of power at 118. He also seems to continue his habits of lapsing into sloppiness and roughhousing when things get tough. His defense is still problematic. Considering the quality of fighters at 122 and higher, the 33 year old Darchinyan would be best served to stay at 118, or consider a move back down to 115. He wants a rematch, and though he was competitive, I don't see why Agbeko would bother after such a clear victory. Darchinyan will be seen again, and it will be interesting to see what he and Gary Shaw decide to do.

Lightweights: Antonio Demarco, 21-1-1 (15 KOs) over Anges Adjaho, 25-2 (14KOs), by 9th Round KO.

The opening two rounds of this fight were painfully boring as the southpaw, Demarco, seemed to have a style too similar to the righty, Adjaho. There was a lot of standing around and looking at each other in between misses. Things did pick up from the third round on as both fighters exchanged hard, exciting combinations. Demarco was the more aggressive fighter, but Adjaho countered well and landed some hard clean punches off of his awkward defensive style. We were heading toward the final stretch of a tough, combative fight when Adjaho quit. At least that's how I look at it.

In the closing seconds of round 9, Adjaho was stunned by a straight left from Demarco and decided to take a knee. As he was taking a knee, Demarco GRAZED Adjaho with a punch toward the back of the head and neck. It clearly wasn't hard or malicious. In press row, it initially looked like a slight, slight late hit, but Adjaho was clearly trying to win an Emmy with his performance. He was going for the easy way out, by trying to get Demarco disqualified. But as referee, Tellis Assemenios, explained to press row after the fight: "He didn't think the knee was quite on the ground when the final blow landed." He thinks Adjaho was trying to get a disqualification, but correctly counted Adjaho out for the knockdown.

At the time of the stoppage, press row had Adjaho ahead on two cards with a tie on the third. The official judges had the fight scored a draw. This means that Adjaho tried to take the easy way out in a fight in which he clearly had a chance at winning. If Adjaho was seriously injured by the slight grazing, I offer 1000 apologies, but considering his actions while falling, and his quick rise after the count, I think it was a painfully, lame performance on his part. Demarco is now in line to fight for a championship, and Adjaho has to look at the "man in the mirror".

Cruiserweights: Steve Cunningham, 22-2 (11KOs) over Wayne Braithwaite, 23-4 (19KOs), by Unanimous Decision, 119-109, 117-111, 118-110.

The classy, Steve "USS" Cunningham put himself in line for championship bout by outboxing the rugged, Braithwaite. This contest was a fairly exciting fight as both boxers threw excellent combinations and showed strong chins. Neither fighter was ever in serous trouble, but hard blows were landed. Braithwaite can still beat a lot of good cruiserweights, but he simply didn't have the overall skill level to take enough rounds from Cunningham. Steve could have made the fight easier for himself by working off of his strong jab, but he decided to mix it up on occasion. Lucky for him, he showed a strong jaw, and won most of the exchanges with his hand-speed.

Welterweights: Ivan Kirpa, 24-1 (15 KOs) over Miguel Rodriguez, 29-4 (23 KOs), by Unanimous Decision, 118-110, 120-108, 119-109.

Don King has big plans for the 31 year old Kirpa, who simply outworked and outhustled Rodriquez. Kirpa doesn't do anything special, but he is extremely tough, and continuously goes forward to the body and the head. He may remind you a tad of a prime Ricky Hatton in his fighting style and relentless approach. I'm sure he'll get a title shot one day, but he's already 31, and though he'll make for exciting fights, I don't see him being a major factor in boxing's most talent-rich division. Rodiguez is coming off of a 7th round KO loss to Andre Berto in his last fight. Although, he throws nice combinations, he doesn't carry much power against superior opposition. He also has porous defense. Rodriguez showed good heart in this fight, but he was beat up pretty bad. His status as a major contender is likely over.

Cruiserweights: Francisco Palacios, 18-0 (11 KOs) over Manu Ntoh, 17-17-1 (4KOs) by 1rst Round KO.

First off, Ntoh is a stiff who offered absolutely nothing in this fight. He shouldn't be in the ring with a contender ever again. Palacios on the other hand, will make some noise in the cruiserweight division. He has brash confidence and personality. He came out with a large Puerto Rican entourage including a live rapper. He showboated and mocked Ntoh throughout the short bout. He made quick work of Ntoh, and who knows if Palacios is really any good, but he does have charisma and personality. After the fight, he stood on each corner, smiling and shrugging like he just won a world title. On the way out, he soul kissed a couple of pretty women in his entourage and strutted back to the dressing room. Palacios will be showcased in the division, because people will want to see the spectacle. Some will cheer on his brashness and offensive weaponry. Others will hope to see him get humbled and punched in the face….repeatedly. We will be seeing more of this guy.

All in all, I enjoyed covering this card, and can't wait to see some of these fighters again. Let me know what you think about the show.