Joseph Agbeko (born 22 March 1980) is a Ghanaian professional boxer. He is a two-time former bantamweight world champion, having held the IBF title twice between 2007 and 2011. Additionally he held the Commonwealth bantamweight title from 2004 to 2006; the IBO bantamweight title in 2013; and has challenged once for a super bantamweight world title in 2013.
Professional career
On September 29, 2007, he dethroned Luis Alberto Perez to become the new IBF bantamweight titleholder. Agbeko was inactive for 1 year, 2 months and 11 days before defending his title on December 11, 2008. In a fight that had been repeatedly postponed, he defeated William Gonzalez by majority decision. On July 11, 2009, Agbeko successfully defended his IBF bantamweight title by scoring a unanimous decision win over former two division champion Vic Darchinyan. On Halloween night, October 31, 2009, Agbeko lost his IBF title by 12 round unanimous decision to 20-0 Colombian challenger Yonnhy Pérez.
Perez vs. 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 Battle at the Boat series at 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 vs. Mares
"King Kong" Agbeko was scheduled to take on Abner Mares in the Bantamweight Tournament Final: Winner Takes All on Saturday, April 23, on Showtime. However, Agbeko pulled out of the fight just days prior, citing an injury, and the fight was 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 credit, despite at least 23 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. It is possible that without the knockdown, Mares would not have won the fight. The scoring read 115–111, 115-111 and 113-113.
Retirement Agbeko announced his retirement from professional boxing on 14 August 2024, having not fought for four years.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes43Win38–5 Albert CommeyTKO5 (10), 26 Dec 2020 42Win37–5 Gabriel OchiengTKO9 (12), 2 Nov 2019 41Win36–5 Hashimu ZuberiUD1219 Apr 2019 40Win35–5 Ekow WilsonTKO10 (12)8 Sep 2018 39Win34–5 Frank KiwalabyeUD1230 Mar 2018 38Win33–5 Abdul Malik JabirTKO10 (10)3 Nov 2017 37Win32–5 Martin AhiadekeyTKO7 (8)14 Oct 2017 36Win31–5 Haji JumaUD1028 Oct 2016 35Win30–5 Juanito RubillarTKO4 (10), 30 May 2015 34Loss29–5 Guillermo RigondeauxUD127 Dec 2013 33Win29–4 Luis MelendezUD1222 Mar 2013 32Loss28–4 Abner MaresUD123 Dec 2011 31Loss28–3 Abner MaresMD1213 Aug 2011 30Win28–2 Yonnhy PérezUD1211 Dec 2010 29Loss27–2 Yonnhy PérezUD1231 Oct 2009 28Win27–1 Vic DarchinyanUD1211 Jul 2009 27Win26–1 William GonzalezMD1211 Dec 2008 26Win25–1 Luis Alberto Pérez7 (12), 29 Sep 2007 25Win24–1 Fidencio ReyesTKO4 (8), 9 Aug 2007 24Win23–1 Baba Nsor TKO423 Mar 2007 23Win22–1 Sumaila Badu UD1229 Oct 2004 22Loss21–1 Volodymyr Sydorenko 1218 May 2004 21Win21–0 Cedric Conway TKO6 (10)13 Jun 2003 20Win20–0 Charlemagne Agbotomey TKO4 (10), 4 Oct 2002 19Win19–0 Sabin BorneiTKO6 (12), 10 May 2002 18Win18–0 Michael KizzaTKO2 (12)8 Sep 2001 17Win17–0 Faustin RostandTKO2 (6)27 Jul 2001 16Win16–0 Ganiyu OlafimihanKO26 Jun 2001 15Win15–0 Moses KennedyKO24 May 2001 14Win14–0 Mike OrlandoKO424 Mar 2001 13Win13–0 Chris BandelKO220 Mar 2001 12Win12–0 Johannes Maisa1214 Nov 2000 11Win11–0 Arouma YessoufouKO17 Oct 2000 10Win10–0 Laurent ZakpoKO229 Aug 2000 9Win9–0 Ola BalougonTKO2 (12), 5 May 2000 8Win8–0 Friday Fatunji FelixKO1 (10)16 Oct 1999 7Win7–0 Freddy MutalaKO719 Sep 1999 6Win6–0 Abdul Malik JabirKO1 (12)30 Jul 1999 5Win5–0 Patrice Owai64 Jun 1999 4Win4–0 Roland Igbafei21 May 1999 3Win3–0 Ray MedozaKO84 Apr 1999 2Win2–0 Laurent ZakpoKO213 Mar 1999 1Win1–0 Agaitor Yao1 (6)16 Dec 1998
Honors In 2010, to honor Joseph's exploits in the sport of boxing, the town of Sogakope in the Volta Region of Ghana enstooled him as a warrior chief. His enstoolment name was Togbe Kaletor I, which means 'Brave Warrior.'"Agbeko enstooled Warrior Chief in Volta Region" , My Joy Online(Ghana), December 28, 2010
References
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