Joseph “King Kong” Agbeko: “The Winner of This Fight is the Best Bantamweight in the World!”

Added on Apr 06, 2011 by Brian Blake in

Boxing

In next weekend’s Showtime televised event being billed as “The Bantamweight Tournament Final: Winner Takes All” event Joseph “King Kong” Agbeko’s IBF portion of the title will be on the line in addition to the WBC Silver belt when he takes on youngster Abner Mares at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles.

The ultra confident Agbeko recently held an open workout for the media leading up to his upcoming showdown with Mares and took some time out to provide journalists with his thoughts regarding the tournament.

“I feel happy to be in the final of the tournament. The only prediction that I know is that I am going to come out of the ring as the winner of the night. I’ve really prepared for [Mares]. I don’t know if he’ll be able to take the strength and the skills that I bring to the ring. If he can take it, then I’m going to beat him unanimously. If he can’t, it’s going to be a knockout.”

Mares, earned his spot in the finals after defeating the hard hitting Vic Darchinyan with a very close split decision win at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, WA last December in which he claimed the IBO and WBC Silver titles.

“The fight with Vic was the only war that Mares has been through. I’ve been in a couple of wars, as far as boxing is concerned. No disrespect to [Mares] but I think I’m the better fighter. Against him, I’ve got better skills. There’s [no] way that he can go through me.

The IBF champ added, “To be honest with you, I have not watched Abner Mares [vs.] Vic Darchinyan because Vic is a different fighter [than me] so I don’t need to watch. Plus, Vic is a southpaw so I can’t really see anything in that fight.”

Ghana’s Agbeko had a more clear cut victory over Yohnny Perez to reach the finals. In their rematch Agbeko walked away with a unanimous decision and found redemption following their initial encounter in which Perez was the victor via unanimous decision.

“When I come to the fight prepared, no one can survive. When I fought Yonnhy Perez the first time, I wasn’t fully prepared for that fight. Even though that was a very close fight, I didn’t think I was going to lose. But a few head butts happened and it went to the favor of Yonnhy Perez and I lost the fight. In the second fight, I proved to the world that I’m the best bantamweight.”

Most fighters will be cautious in looking past the bout that lies before them, yet Agbeko had no qualms in talking about his career following the bantamweight tournament.

“I’m thinking of moving up to featherweight to take on the big guys. I’m thinking of Gamboa, Lopez and I’m thinking of being in the league with them. After this fight, if I don’t get any good competition then I’m going to move to featherweight. I want to fight them. I want to prove to the world that I’m the best.”

If he comes out of the tournament with the win most people would argue that he is still the number two man in the division and not the best bantamweight in the world as he so claims. I, along with most of the boxing world, strongly feel that Nonito Donaire holds that title, and if he truly wants to be viewed as the best a showdown with Donaire is an absolute must.

But for now, a win over Mares to become the tournament winner will help solidify his spot as the number two guy in the division.

Only time will tell if he can truly lay claim to being the top bantamweight in the world.