IBF order a rematch between Abner Mares and Joseph Agbeko

Quote :

Three days after Abner Mares claimed a bantamweight title with a hard-fought but highly controversial majority decision win against Joseph Agbeko, the IBF on Tuesday ordered an immediate rematch.

The result was controversial because of the universally criticized performance of referee Russell Mora, who allowed Mares to repeatedly land low blows throughout the fight without taking away any points. He warned Mares several times but never took a point.

Mora also awarded Mares a questionable first-round knockdown that replays showed happened more from an Agbeko slip than from a solid punch. Mora's most critical error came in the 11th round, when he missed a blatant blow to Agbeko's groin. Agbeko went down from the illegal blow, but Mora ruled it a knockdown, changing what had likely been an Agbeko 10-9 round to a 10-8 round for Mares.

The crowd at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Showtime's announcers and Agbeko and his corner were incensed by the knockdown ruling made by Mora, who was in perfect position to make the call but missed it.

Mares (22-0-1, 13 KOs), who earned $300,000 according to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, wound up winning 115-111 on two scorecards and the third judge scored it 113-113 as Showtime's four-man bantamweight tournament came to a conclusion.

Had Mora deducted points -- he also could have disqualified Mares -- and not made the wrong call on the 11th-round knockdown, Agbeko, who made $130,000, likely would have retained his title on either a draw or close decision.

IBF president Daryl Peoples said he and Lindsey Tucker, the organization's championship chairman, reviewed the video of the fight and then notified Agbeko promoter Don King, Mares promoter Golden Boy and the Nevada commission that they were ordering an immediate rematch.

"Mr. Tucker and I observed several low blow fouls committed by Abner Mares," Peoples wrote in the letter, which was obtained by ESPN.com. "While the referee, Russell Mora, issued numerous warnings for low blows during the course of the bout, he neglected to deduct points for these fouls. With 1:03 left in round eleven, Joseph Agbeko was hit with a low blow foul that forced him to the canvas. Mr. Mora determined that the blow landed by Mares was legal and began to count indicating that a knockdown had occurred. Based upon our review of the bout, it has been determined by the IBF that inappropriate conduct by the referee affected the outcome of the fight."

Peoples' letter went on to say that a rematch must be held by Dec. 14 (120 days from the bout) and that neither fighter can take an interim bout before the rematch. The letter said that if the sides cannot make a deal by Sept. 15, a purse bid will be ordered to determine who will have the right to promote the bout.

King, who turns 80 on Saturday and was unable to attend the bout because of a bad back, said he was pleased by the IBF's "swift action in ordering an immediate rematch."

"They wasted no time in determining that Russell Mora, the referee assigned to Agbeko vs. Mares, was in violation of their rules by displaying inappropriate conduct for ignoring repeated low blows against my fighter, Joseph Agbeko," King said. "I commend (Peoples and Tucker) for confirming what everyone who witnessed the bout already knew. Too often, the first inclination when human frailty is exposed is to sweep it under the rug as though it never happened. It is to their credit that Mr. Peoples and Mr. Tucker confirmed that when obvious mistakes are made, it's best to recognize them and attempt to immediately right the wrongs."

"It was an appropriate order given the egregious nature of the clear fouls and the fact that the referee simply didn't effectively do his job," Pat English, attorney for Agbeko manager Vinny Scolpino, told ESPN.com. "I knew from the moment I saw the fight that there would be a rematch because it was just so bad (the refereeing)."

Nobody from Golden Boy was available for comment.

The 25-year-old Mares, a 2004 Mexican Olympian living in Hawaiian Gardens, Calif., could decline the rematch, but then he would be stripped of the title and Agbeko (28-3, 22 KOs), a 31-year-old Ghana native living in New York, would have an opportunity to fight for the vacant belt against the next leading available contender.

http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/6868161/abner-mares-joseph-agbeko-rematch-ordered-wake-low-blow-controversy

IBF did the right thing, I'm glad. I started watching the fight cheering for Mares but obviously that changed. How could anyone not feel for Agbeko watching that fight. It really was like Mares and the ref vs Agbeko. I don't feel like Mares was doing it on purpose but then again I've only seen him fight one other time and the commentators made it seem like this is something he does.

good call... reff should be fired and never hired again!

MMAEYES wrote:

IBF did the right thing, I'm glad. I started watching the fight cheering for Mares but obviously that changed. How could anyone not feel for Agbeko watching that fight. It really was like Mares and the ref vs Agbeko. I don't feel like Mares was doing it on purpose but then again I've only seen him fight one other time and the commentators made it seem like this is something he does.

Mares specialty is going to the body, but yeah he's got a habit of drifting shots low.