JOSEPH AGBEKO W12 (maj.) WILLIAM GONZALEZ

It’s not often these days that fans are treated to two superb 12-round bouts in one night, but that’s what we got on Versus when Tomasz Adamek defeated Steve Cunningham and Joseph Agbeko outpointed William Gonzalez.

The Don King show (in conjunction with Main Events) was good for boxing, not just because the fights were outstanding but because it will show the programmers at the Versus network, which televised the double-header, just how compelling boxing can be when fights are well-matched and the boxers come into the ring determined, in top condition and ready to give their all.

Agbeko, the IBF bantam champion from Ghana (but living in New York), had a desperate struggle with the Nicaraguan southpaw Gonzalez but seemed a clear winner although veteran New Jersey judge Tom Kaczmarek saw the fight all-even, 114-114. I thought that the two 116-112 scores in favour of Agbeko were the right ones.

In a tough, bloody battle, Gonzalez put up the fight of his life. Cut on the hairline and over the left eye, nose bloodied, he just dug in and kept fighting.

Each man landed hard shots throughout but I thought that Agbeko’s left jabs and straight right hands through the middle made the difference in most of the rounds. Generally speaking he was the straighter, more accurate puncher although often both men just seemed to be trying to batter their way to victory with big hooks, swings and uppercuts.

For round after round they fought it out, toe-to-toe. Gonzalez got the worst of the numerous head clashes but he slammed in some low left hands from his southpaw stance and not all of them were picked up by the referee.

It was an unrelentingly fierce fight between proud, game boxers who refused to submit to the other’s will. Just when Agbeko looked like imposing his authority, so Gonzalez would land the sort of heavy shots that got him right back into it. Agbeko kept steaming in, though, and the ceaseless pressure had Gonzalez giving ground. It just seemed to me that, in a two-sided fight, Agbeko usually had the look of a winner.

Gonzalez wiped away blood from his left eye and appeared to be turning the fight his way with some strong body shots that seemed to be almost doubling up Agbeko in the 10th, but it was the resilient fighter from Ghana who finished the stronger of the two, driving back the tiring challenger with jabs and right hands in the final round.

At the final bell there seemed no question that Agbeko had won, but Gonzalez fought so well and so valiantly that he was a winner, too, in his own right.