LOS ANGELES, November 3 – It was an instant classic last Saturday night at Treasure Island Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, as the two best bantamweights in the world traded punches for 12 torridly-paced rounds. When it was over, Cartegena, Colombia’s Yonnhy Perez had his hand raised over Joseph ‘King Kong’ Agbeko via unanimous decision, crowning him the new IBF 118-pound world champion. “Coming into the fight I had a calmness and confidence about me,” said Perez. “I would think and say to my team, ‘I got this one.’ I knew Agbeko wasn’t as strong as me and couldn’t box like me. I knew that I could counter and that Agbeko would leave himself open and I would need to capitalize on that… And it played out just like I knew it would..”
The victory was the 30-year old Perez’ 20th as a pro without a defeat, and in his last two fights he has beaten two of the world’s best in Ghana’s Agbeko and South Africa’s Silence Mabuza. Now Perez sits on top of one of boxing’s most competitive divisions, and in winning his first world title, he joins junior welterweight boss Timothy Bradley as one of Thompson Boxing Promotions’ first two world champions.
“This is a great win for Team Perez,” said Perez’ trainer / manager Danny Zamora. “We worked hard for this and we looked forward to getting to this stage in Yonnhy’s career. He came from an amateur career when we first started working with him and we knew he was an older fighter and that we had to teach him a lot of new things. We were willing to take the time and he was open to learning and that made all the difference.”
Perez turned pro at the age of 26 in July of 2005 with a first round TKO of Steve Lozoya. When he was 6-0, he signed with Thompson Boxing Promotions and began on his road to the world title. And though many saw Agbeko as the favorite last Saturday night after his July win over Vic Darchinyan, Perez was not about to let his opportunity slip away, even when Agbeko’s fouling began to become more prevalent.
“We knew Agbeko was active and we told the referee to watch Agbeko’s head because we were aware that he likes to headbutt,” said Zamora. “It could have made a big difference. Yonnhy got two big headbutts by Agbeko and he would follow up the headbutts by throwing more punches. But the fight was GREAT!”
It was, and Perez punctuated his victory with a tenth round knockdown and a strong surge in the championship rounds to win by scores of 117-110, 117-110, and 116-111. The news of Perez’ victory reverberated all the way back home to Colombia.
“My hometown fans we’re so excited,” said Perez. “I could hear them cheering for me over the phone and it was an emotional moment. I could feel their enthusiasm as if they were in the same room as me. I could feel their hopes and presence with me while I was fighting in the ring and I could feel it after too. They were so excited, especially because the fight was being aired to them in Colombia. It was a huge celebration of my victory over Agbeko.”
And now the well-deserved celebration will continue for Perez, who will leave for Cartagena on Tuesday, November 3rd to be with his wife Linette, his sons Yonnhy (9) and Matteo (2), and his parents, sister and two brothers. Expected to be back in the States on February 1st, Perez will then begin the hard work of defending his title against all comers.
“Yonnhy had stitches now, so we’re giving him time to recuperate,” said Zamora. “Then we will see where we go from here. Being a World Champion is a bigger responsibility because you have to defend it to remain at the top level.”
Sounds like Perez will up for that challenge.