International Boxing Federation bantamweight champion Joseph King Kong Agbeko has boldly predicted he will score a knockout victory over undefeated IBF No. 1-ranked mandatory challenger Yonnhy “El Colombiano” Perez when they meet in Don King’s Halloween Thrilla at Treasure Island Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on Saturday, Oct. 31 on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on West Coast.

“I think I will defeat Yonnhy Perez by knockout,” Agbeko said from his South Florida-based training camp. “I’m not underestimating him. He’s a good fighter, but I know this is going to be a knockout for me.

“Perez should keep his confidence as an undefeated fighter and bring it to the ring. I want to face him at his best. After our fight, he will feel the same way I did after I suffered my only loss, except mine was a robbery; his will be real.”

Agbeko (27-1, 22 KOs), from Accra, Ghana, now fighting out of Bronx, N.Y., has been nothing short of sensational. He burst onto the world stage by defeating then-IBF 118-pound champion Luis “El Demoledor” Perez, from Managua, Nicaragua, when they met in Sacramento, Calif., in 2007.

Perez was riding a 10-fight winning streak, had not lost since 2000 and had been a world champion for nearly five years. Agbeko unloaded so many pin-point head shots, the ringside physician halted the contest in the seventh round, and Perez went to the hospital after the fight due to pain from body shots.

But it was Agbeko’s career-defining performance in his last fight—against a fighter in Vic Darchinyan that can usually back up his big talk outside the ring at fight time. Darchinyan threw everything he had at Agbeko, and, in a bizarre seventh round, the timekeeper even allowed an extra minute of fight time where Darchinyan was credited with a knockdown in what replays showed was an obvious push.

Unphased, Agbeko battered Darchinyan and scored a unanimous decision that moved him into the pantheon of best Ghanaian boxers of all time among greats like Azumah Nelson and Ike “Bazooka” Quartey.

Share/Save | (0) comments | Add your comments
Click to read more boxing articles by Boxing Press

Discuss in Boxing Forum

---

Related Boxing Articles...

• Boxing Result: Yonnhy Perez Upsets Joseph Agbeko For IBF Title

  

  © Tom Casino / Showtime Boxing Yonnhy Perez made the most of his first world title fight by knocking off reigning IBF bantam titlist tonight at Treasure Island Casino in Las >
  
  

• Boxing Preview: Joseph Agbeko vs. Yonnhy Perez

  Tonight at Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas, NV, IBF bantam champ Joseph Agbeko faces the challenge of Yonnhy Perez in what should turn out to be an epic battle. Agbeko, >
  
  

• Boxing Weights: Joseph Agbeko vs. Yonnhy Perez

  

  © Tom Casino / Showtime Boxing Don King Productions promotes an event this evening at Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas headlined by Joseph Agbeko's IBF bantamweight title defense against Yonnhy >
  
  

• Don King Boxing: Agbeko vs. Gonzales For IBF Bantam Title This Saturday

  Joseph "King Kong" Agbeko, who received a presidential parade in Ghana after winning his first world championship last year, will make the first defense of his IBF Bantamweight title against >
  
  

• Showtime Boxing: Dawson, Mendoza Ready To Rip Tonight In Sacramento

  

  In preparation for their big showdown tonight at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, CA as part of Showtime's Free Preview Weekend, light heavyweights Chad Dawson and Epifanio Mendoza both made >
  
  

• Boxing Quotes: Joseph Agbeko vs. Yonnhy Perez

  Growing up in Colombia , Yonnhy Perez would go as a chef on Halloween, “or maybe Dracula,’’ he said, “because where I’m from Halloween is called the Day of the >
  
  

• Don King Boxing: Agbeko vs. Gonzalez Off Due To Visa Problems

  Newly crowned International Boxing Federation bantamweight champion Joseph King Kong Agbeko was to have made his first title defense against mandatory challenger William Gonzalez on Saturday in Ponce, Puerto Rico, >
  
  

• Showtime Boxing: Chad Dawson, Joseph Agbeko Workout Quotes

  Undefeated WBC Light Heavyweight Champion Chad Dawson and IBF Bantamweight title challenger Joseph Agbeko worked out for the media at the Washington Neighborhood Center in Sacramento, CA on Wednesday in >
  
  

• Showtime Boxing: Darchinyan Moving Up To Bantam Against IBF Champ Agbeko

  In what will be a brutal battle of pure power punchers, Vic “Raging Bull’’ Darchinyan will attempt to become a world champion in a third weight class when he challenges >
  
  

• Boxing In South Africa: Perez Stops Mabuza In Johannesburg

  Last night at Johannesburg's Springs Indoor Arena, South Africa's top bantamweight saw his bid for another world title opportunity go up in smoke as Silence Mabuza was stopped by opponent >
  
  

---

Boxing News Tags: Antonio DeMarco, Boxing Predictions, Don King, Jose Alfaro, Joseph Agbeko, Yohnny Perez