The announcement of the bantamweight tournament was a breath of fresh air to boxing. Four fighters from the division, and not just any old four, they were four of the best. Vic Darchinyan, Abner Mares, Joseph Agbeko and Yonnhy Perez. A few match ups having already taken place previously between a few of the names involved. The two hottest prospects, Abner Mares and Yonnhy Perez, both undefeated, had fought their way to a draw when they both met leaving both zeros intact. The tough, durable Ghanaian Joseph Agbeko had previously outpointed Armenian Vic Darchinyan with a unanimous decision, but had tasted defeat against Yonnhy Perez, being on the wrong end of a unanimous decision himself.
My predictions before the tournament were that Mares and Perez would both win unanimous decisions to progress to the final, and Perez to win overall.
Abner Mares vs Vic Darchinyan
The first round Mares was the busier and better of the two but a cut was opened up on his forehead from a clash of heads.
The second round was a bit better when Mares started to pick some nice shots until he got caught and was sent to the canvas by a flash knockdown. He regained his feet though and showed no signs that he was hurt.
Mares had a point deducted in the fourth for a low blow but the round was a 9-9 as Mares was the better of the two.
At the start of the seventh blood was still seeping from the cut on Mares’ forehead but not enough to put the fight in any real danger. At one point in the round the two were stood trading in the centre of the ring. Darchinyan threw a punch but Mares countered and caught Vic off balance. Another flash knockdown in the fight but Darchinyan showing no signs of being hurt.
The action in the fight continued at a high pace, neither fighter turning down a good scrap. Mares was landed the cleaner and more accurate shots while Darchinyan was the aggressor, so it was interesting to see how the judges would score the fight.
The fight saw the final bell and the result was a split decision in favour of Mares. One judge had it 111-115 Darchinyan whilst the other two had it 114-112 and 115-111 in Mares’ favour meaning Mares would progress to the final.
This ended up being my favourite fight of the night out of any that took place across the world, and I’d even go as far to put it up there with the best fights of 2010!
Yonnhy Perez vs Joseph Agbeko
This fight ended with the unanimous decision I expected, just it was the fighter in the other corner who took the decision! The fight was nowhere near the standard which the Mares-Darchinyan fight had reached but it was a much bigger shock. I don’t think many people gave Agbeko a chance of winning, let alone by a unanimous decision, as many people saw Perez as the best boxer in the tournament.
The reality is that Perez was never allowed to get going. Every punch or combination he tried to throw, Agbeko had an answer for it. Agbeko exerted a high level of pressure on his opponent all night and effectively took away Perez’ jab, nullifying him in the process. The judges had it 115-113, 116-112 and 117-111 to Agbeko meaning that he was the other man to progress to the final, setting up a fight between himself and Abner Mares.
My prediction for the final is a Mares UD. I think technically Mares is too good for Agbeko and will prove to be too slick for the Ghanaian. I’m also going to stick my neck out and pick Darchinyan to win the 3rd/4th place fight between him and Perez. If Darchinyan can apply pressure like he did to Mares then he could take the fight on points, the same way Agbeko did. The blueprint is there for Vic to follow now.
Thanks for reading!
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