Post Fight: Mares and Agbeko Speak!

On Saturday night, Abner Mares was crowned the new IBF bantamweight world champion and the winner of Showtime’s bantamweight tournament, making him the first Golden Boy fighter to become a world champion under the sole guidance of the L.A promotional company.

The all action twelve round affair would be overshadowed by the lack of officiating by referee Russell Mora who seemed unwilling to enforce the low blow rule.

The former IBF title holder Joseph King Kong Agbeko was forced to endure multiple illegal blows below the belt line while attempting to defend his title and get the victory. To make things even worse, A brutal shot that strayed low, crippled Agbeko and left him unable to remain standing in the eleventh, prompting Mora to begin a ten count and awarding Mares a knockdown. Just when Agbeko seemed to be back to level ground in a close match the steam was gone and so was his belt.

Mares closed strong and was awarded the victory by two of the three judges who saw it for Mares with scores of 115-111. The third judge saw it a draw.

Two fighters that should have been celebrated for their all out effort and heart were overlooked as the third man in the ring became the focus at the post fight presser.

Here’s what the two had to say after the fight.

Joseph King Kong Agbeko:

“I don’t think this is the way people should make a champion. If Mares is to be a champion then he is suppose to come in and win clearly, not cheat in order to become champion. The referee doesn’t have to do everything possible to make Mares Champion, he’s suppose to give us a fair fight, to make Mares prove himself but he didn’t he did everything possible to steal the title from me. I’m very disappointed with the referee and I demand an immediate rematch because I don’t think this fight makes him a champion, No way”

“Abner Mares has to fight me if he’s going to prove he is the champion of the Showtime tournament. If he runs away and doesn’t fight me, then he is a coward”

“If Golden boy wants to make Abner Mares a true champion, then he has to fight me and beat me clearly to make him a true champion. Not for the referee to support him and take my belt from me and give it to him and call him a champion. That doesn’t make him a champion”

Dave Itskowitch (Golden Boy Promotions)

“In My eyes the rounds were close, It was a good fight”

“We’re not saying yes and we’re not saying no (To a rematch) we’re saying that we have to sit down and go over Abner’s options”

Abner Mares:

I’m happy, I’m the new IBF world champion and my dream came true”

“I’m open for anything now, I’ll fight anyone”

“I just didn’t fight anyone tonight. I fought a champion, I fought Joseph Agbeko, the champion. I was the challenger. I had to fight my heart out”

On the questionable knockdowns:

“He was down, so it was a knockdown, I threw a punch and he went down”

“I haven’t seen it (The second knockdown) I threw the punch but I haven’t seen if it was low or not”

“every time I was throwing punches to the body, it was him pushing me down and even though the punches were right on the belt line. That’s why they just kept warning and warning me”

“I got to go back and look at it but either way it wasn’t my call. It’s not like if I told the ref ‘hey ref tell them it was a knockdown’ it was his decision”

“The first rounds were going my way. He’s the champion and he adjusted to my style and he was catching me, he caught me with good right hands. He has a pretty good right hand. But again I was making the fight, whenever I threw punches, I landed. I even took that twelfth round and I was boxing him and closed strong”

“He (Agbeko) found a way to make it close but either way, I felt I was controlling the fight”