|
There is no question that Azumah
Nelson is the greatest boxer to
ever come out of Ghana. But
behind him is a long list of his
countrymen who also reached the
top inside the squared circle,
among them former World Boxing
Federation (WBF) World
Bantamweight Champion
Joseph “King Kong” Agbeko.
Agbeko was still only eighteen
when he made his professional
debut in Accra, his home-town,
scoring a quick first round
knockout of compatriot Agaitor
Yao (0-1) on December 16, 1998
at the Kaneshie Sports Complex.
He would prove to be something
of a globetrotter, as he boxed
in no less than seven African
countries in his first twelve
outings, winning in Togo, Ivory
Coast, Benin, Senegal, Nigeria
and South Africa, besides his
native Ghana.
In July of 1999, in his sixth
pro bout, Agbeko captured the
Ghanaian national Bantamweight
title, stopping Abdul Malik
Jabir in round one of both men's
first title fight. It was a
clear indication that Agbeko was
already a level above his
domestic rivals.
This was confirmed less than a
year later, on May 5, 2000, when
he blew out Nigerian Ola
Balougun in two rounds to win
the African Boxing Union (ABU)
title, and six months after that
defended the belt in South
Africa with a unanimous decision
over undefeated local Johannes
Maisa (15-0).
Now 12-0, and with two titles on
his resume, Agbeko had earned
world rankings with several
governing bodies, and already
had his sights set on world
honors. After beating Maisa he
took out his next five opponents
inside four rounds, while he
waited for his big opportunity.
The opportunity came when Agbeko
was matched against Ugandan
Michael “Iron Bomber” Kizza on
September 8, 2001, when they
headlined in Accra with the
vacant WBF World Bantamweight
title on the line in front of a
boisterous crowd.
It was 17-0 with 15 knockouts
(Agbeko) against 14-1 with 9
knockouts (Kizza), and on paper
it shaped up to be a grueling
encounter between two
hard-punching up-and-coming
youngsters. A well-matched fight
that could go either way.
However, Agbeko was again a
notch above his opponent, and
started the fight like a house
on fire as he knocked Kizza down
twice in the first round before
forcing a second round stoppage
to win his first world
championship at only twenty-one
years of age.
On May 10, 2002 “King Kong”
ventured to London, England to
defend the WBF World title
against Romanian contender Sabin
Bornei (11-2). Agbeko controlled
most of the fight, and won by
sixth round technical knockout
when the challenger was cut
above the left eye.
A period of relative inactivity
followed for Agbeko, who, over
the next two years, only fought
twice in non-title bouts in
Ghana. In May of 2004, no longer
the WBF world champion, he lost
for the first time, when future
WBA world titlist Volodymyr
Sydorenko (14-0) beat him by
close majority decision in
Germany.
In his first fight back, the
following October, Agbeko won
the Commonwealth title by
unanimous decision over fellow
countryman Sumaila Badu (3-2),
and then disappeared from the
scene for over two years.
When he returned, he had a
comeback fight in Ghana before
relocating to the USA and
signing a promotional deal with
the iconic Don King. On August
9, 2007 in Las Vegas he made his
US debut with a fourth round
stoppage of Fidencio Reyes
(10-4-1).
Six weeks later he became a
two-time world Bantamweight
Champion when he stopped Luis
Alberto Perez (25-1) for the IBF
version, a title he defended
with decisions over William
Gonzalez (21-2) and Vic
Darchinyan (32-1-1) before
losing it to Yonnhy Perez (19-0)
in October 2009.
Agbeko had to wait more than a
year to get a rematch, but was
crowned three-time world
champion when he out-scored
Perez in December of 2010. He
then lost the title on points to
Abner Marez (21-0-1) in August
2011, and also came up short on
the cards in a rematch.
In March of 2013 Agbeko became
World Bantamweight Champion for
the fourth time, when he
captured the vacant IBO title
with a decision over Colombian
Luis Melendez (34-8-1) in Accra.
He then moved up to Super
Bantamweight where he lost a
WBA/WBO world title-challenge
(UD) to Guillermo Rigondeaux
(12-0).
Since that fight, in December
2013, Agbeko has boxed at least
once in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
and 2019, and put together a
string of seven victories. Now
40 years old, and with a record
of 36-5 (26), he last boxed in
April of 2019.
|
