Big Little Guys Battle For Bantamweight Supremacy

Showtime Boxing’s bantamweight tournament, featuring Joseph “King Kong” Agbeko (28-2, 22 KOs), Abner Mares (21-0, 13 KOs), Vic “Raging Bull” Darchinyan (35-3-1, 27 KOs) and Yonnhy “El Colombiano” Perez (20-1-1, 14 KOs), concludes on April 23.

In the tournament final, Agbeko faces off against slick-boxing Mares to stake his claim to bantamweight supremacy (excluding Nonito Donaire, of course, who is the best bantamweight in the world in my humble opinion).

Agbeko got to the final by dominating Perez over 12 rounds when they met last December, in a rematch of a fight that he was similarly dominated in. Mares got here on the heels of a narrow, highly-competitive victory over the always-tough Vic Darchinyan.

Agbeko-Mares promises to be as exciting and as close as Mares-Darchinyan. If you compare common opponents, Agbeko defeated Darchinyan more comprehensively when they met. But styles make fights, and Agbeko’s more complete win against Darchinyan, will not necessarily mean anything when he faces Mares.

However, I do give Agbeko a slight advantage in this fight. For one, I know that he hits harder and has faced far greater competition. And I also believe that King Kong has the better chin and endurance. In what promises to be a grueling match, I feel that Agbeko’s power and durability will wear down Mares, and carry him to a very hard-fought decision victory.

In the battle for third place, I’ll keep my prediction short and sweet. I envision Perez defeating Darchinyan pretty easily. At an “old” 35 (since he’s been in his unfair share of wars), I think Darchinyan is on the wrong side of his excellent career.

Perez (at 32 years old) is no spring chicken either, but he is a boxing late bloomer since he’s only been a professional since 2005. Look for him to show more energy and pop, and garner a late stoppage victory in two weeks.