Since the World Boxing Federation was originally founded by American Larry Carrier in 1988, many of the sport’s biggest names have won a WBF title, and proudly defended the blue, red and gold belt all over the world.
In the Champions Of The Past Series we take a closer look at some of the boxers who held WBF titles in years gone by, from lesser known champions to world renowned fighters, legends of the sport and current or future Hall of Famers.
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.
Archive
