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LAS VEGAS, Nevada: Colombia's Yonnhy Perez seized the International Boxing Federation bantamweight title, dethroning Ghana's Joseph Agbeko with a unanimous 12-round decision.
Perez emerged from the action-packed bout still unbeaten, improving to 20-0 with 14 wins inside the distance.
He was credited with a knockdown late in the 10th round, sending Agbeko to the canvas when Agbeko had turned away to complain to referee Robert Byrd about a head-butt.
"I didn't see whether it was a head butt or a punch, therefore I had to rule it was from a punch," Byrd said.
Two of the ringside judges scored the bout 117-110 for Perez, while a third saw it 116-111.
Buoyed by the knockdown, Perez poured on the pressure in the last two rounds.
"I knew I was winning the rounds, and I deserved to get the victory," Perez said. "I trained to throw a lot of punches. I know Agbeko likes to throw a lot of punches, so I knew I had to be better conditioned. All the hard work and preparation paid off."
Agbeko, who was making his third defence of a title he won two years ago, fell to 27-2 with 22 knockouts. He said the 10th round was the key to a contest that featured furious action from both fighters from the opening round.
"He head-butted me in round 10 and I didn't think that was fair," Agbeko said. "I thought I was fighting well toward that point. Perez seemed energised and I stayed the same."
Perez called the victory "a dream come true."
"I don't think he was in good shape. I think he went down to catch his breath," he said of the controversial knockdown. "I felt I was more consistent, more active and I pressed the fight throughout."
On the same card, Mexico's Antonio DeMarco dominated Nicaragua's Jose Alfaro en route to a 10th-round technical knockout in a fight for the World Boxing Council interim lightweight title.
Referee Joe Cortez stopped the fight at the 2:07 mark of the round after DeMarco knocked down Alfaro twice.
Alfaro beat the count both times, but as DeMarco continued to press, Alfaro took a knee and Cortez called a halt.
"It's impossible to describe the feeling I have inside me right now," DeMarco said. "This is the second happiest day of my life. Only the birth of my daughter comes first."
The victory put DeMarco in line to challenge unbeaten WBC lightweight champion Edwin Valero of Venezuela.
- AFP/so
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