Major and Latest Boxing news in Ghana
Agbeko chases history
Joseph Agbeko has told American opponent Guillermo Rigondeaux: “I will beat you and grant you a rematch”.
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And if ever tomorrow’s super-bantamweight double title fight has the sound bite of a ring war, the verbal banter between the pair portrays a potentially uneasy fight on hand when the pair square up in the ring at the Broadwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA.
The two will be fighting for the WBO and WBA super-bantamweight titles, both belts currently the bona fide property of the undefeated American.
For Agbeko, however, history beckons as he chases the mark of a fourth world title, a feat that will surpass compatriot and world acclaimed Azumah Nelson’s own status as a three-time world boxing champion.
He has said it is an honour he intends to hand to his country folk, a West African population which has backed him over the years and continues to keep vigil to watch Ghanaian boxers on the big stage in America and elsewhere.
“I plan to make my country proud by becoming world champion again after I defeat Rigondeaux,” he declared ahead of the fight.
It is the least he could share with a nation that offered him a shoulder when a refereeing misjudgement robbed him of a major feat as he lost to Abner Mares in the first of two engaging fights with the Mexican.
And with the stage set for his first fight since moving up to the super-bantamweight division, the 33-year-old exhudes the confidence of a dictator and the vim of a youth on heat.
That he has won just once (by a unanimous decision) in his last three fights or just twice in his last five may give Rigondeaux some hope that the Ghanaian boxing artist appears to be on a decline.
But with a fight record of 29-4 in a 33-fight professional career so far, Agbeko is the last an opponent can underrate.
Rigondeaux, also 33, has had just 12 fights, winning all of them, eight of them by knockout. While his professional fight record is hardly impressive, the Cuban who defected to America, compensates with his status as a two-time Olympic gold medalist during his amateur days.
Such is the contrast that will be on display tomorrow night, with Ghana ready to wake to the dawn of another era — of a new champion.
Guillermo Rigondeaux, 12-0 (8 KOs), Miami, Florida
vs.
Joseph Agbeko, 29-4 (22 KOs), Accra, Ghana.
