IBF Bantamweight World Champion Joseph King Kong Agbeko will Defend His Crown Against No. 1-Ranked Mandatory Challenger Yonnhy 'El Colombiano' Perez
Co-Feature Pits WBC No. 1-Ranked Antonio DeMarco Against Jose Alfaro
For the WBC Interim Lightweight Championship
Main Event and Co-Feature Televised Live on SHOWTIME at 9 p.m. ET/PT
WBC USNBC International Titleholder Ray 'The Rainman' Austin Risks Championship Against Former Top-Ranked Heavyweight DaVarryl 'Touch of Sleep' Williamson
Undefeated James 'King' De La Rosa and Undefeated Nelson Linares Added to Card
LAS VEGAS (October 25, 2009) - International Boxing Federation bantamweight champion Joseph King Kong Agbeko has predicted a knockout when he meets undefeated, No. 1-Ranked mandatory challenger Yonnhy "El Colombiano" Perez on Halloween (Saturday, Oct. 31) at Treasure Island Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
A second world title will be up for grabs in the co-feature when World Boxing Council No. 1-ranked lightweight Antonio DeMarco faces former World Boxing Association lightweight champion Jose Alfaro for the WBC lightweight interim championship. Both fights are scheduled for 12 rounds and will be televised live on SHOWTIME beginning at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).
Tickets to the event live in the Treasure Island Ballroom—all priced at $200 each, plus tax and fees—can be purchased through the Treasure Island box office or by calling (866) 712-9308 or (702) 894-7723. Don King Productions and Treasure Island will present the event. Agbeko vs. Perez and DeMarco vs. Alfaro are presented in association with Gary Shaw Productions.
Promoter Don King is delighted to be working with fellow pioneer, maverick and trailblazer Phil Ruffin, the new owner of the Las Vegas strip icon Treasure Island.
"This is a first at Treasure Island," King said of T.I.'s inagural boxing event. "Treasure Island is a great place, and Phil Ruffin is making it even better with this world championship doubleheader. The fighters will be seeking claim, fame and treasure inside the ring, and you can go on a treasure hunt at. T.I. to win your pot of gold at the end of the rainbow."
Ruffin purchased Treasure Island from MGM Mirage in March.
"I have admired Don King's work in Las Vegas and around the world for years," Ruffin said, "and I want Treasure Island's first boxing event to be the best it can be, and that is why I sought out Don."
The fictional King Kong and King Kong the boxer have two things in common: Both wreak havoc wherever they go. Agbeko (27-1, 22 KOs), from Accra, Ghana, now fighting out of Bronx, N.Y., has stopped just short of tearing down buildings after decimating his foes inside the ring.
The feared four-time world champion Vic Darchinyan, known not kindly as "The Raging Bull," huffed and puffed about what he was going to do to Agbeko before squaring off against him at Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla., on July 11 in one of the year's most anticipated showdowns.
The Aussie powerhouse unloaded his arsenal to no avail against Agbeko, who punished the two-pision champion, winning a unanimous but too-closely-scored decision tallied at 116-111 and 114-113, twice.
This career-defining win, his second title defense, catapulted Agbeko into both the top echelon of current world champions and among the greatest Ghanaian boxers of all time including Ike "Bazooka" Quartey and Azumah Nelson.
"I was once undefeated, and I know how difficult it is for Yonnhy," Agbeko said. "He feels confident because he has never been beaten before. But, I want everyone to know that he's going to get his first defeat on Saturday. It's going to be a knockout. Yonnhy Perez can definitely not stay in there with me."
Perez (19-0, 14 KOs), from Colombia now fighting out of Santa Fe Springs, Calif., made the best of an elimination bout against Silence Mabuza in his last match on May 29 in Mabuza's native South Africa.
Behind on all three scorecards going into the final round, Perez did what he had to do to win. After knocking down Mabuza midway through the 12th round, Mabuza mustered the energy to make it to his feet before Perez forced referee Kenny Chevalier to dramatically halt the contest resulting in a technical knockout victory for Perez.
Now the IBF's top lightweight challenger, Perez can win another upset by defeating Agbeko.
"I've traveled to Africa, and I know how the fighters of that continent are," Perez said. "I know they can talk more than what they can actually do in the ring. He [Agbeko] shouldn't spit up in the air because all that's going to fall right on his face."
WBC USNBC HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP/WORLD ELIMINATION BOUT
No Don King card would be complete without heavyweights, so a special WBC elimination bout will feature WBC No. 3-ranked contender Ray "The Rainman" Austin (27-4-4, 17 KOs), from Cleveland, against former top-ranked heavyweight DaVarryl "Touch of Sleep" Williamson (26-5, 22 KOs), from Denver. The USNBC heavyweight title will also be on the line in this match.
Both of these fighters have participated in world championship fights. The winner in this match may earn another world title shot.
Intriguing heavyweight knockout artist Bermane "B-Ware" Stiverne (17-1-1, 16 KOs), from Haiti now living and fighting out of Miami, is blessed with a plethora of size and power. He will be tested by a fighter that weighed 270 pounds in his last match, Jerry "Big Daddy" Butler (8-6-1, 8 KOs) in a scheduled eight-rounder.
The co-feature pits rising star DeMarco (22-1-1, 16 KOs), from Tijuana, Mexico, against the hard-punching former world champion Alfaro (23-4, 20 KOs), from Nagarote, Nicaragua.
Since suffering the sole loss of his career in 2006 against Anthony Vasquez, a majority decision in a six-rounder, DeMarco, 23, has not lost in 15 straight contests. In his last appearance, on July 11 at BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla., DeMarco received one of the toughest challenges of his career opposing Anges Adjaho to determine the WBC's No. 1 contender at the 135-pound limit.
Adjaho started strong, yet it was DeMarco who finished stronger with middle-round flurries that sapped Adjaho's stamina, culminating in a ninth-round knockout.
Alfaro, 25, is another in a long line of tough-as-nails fighters from the impoverished nation of Nicaragua.
After losing two close, back-to-back decisions in 2006, Alfaro scored five knockout victories in succession, setting up a shot at the vacant WBA lightweight championship against Prawet Singwancha in Germany on Dec. 29, 2007. Alfaro made the most of his opportunity, winning a split decision to become lightweight world champion.
After losing his title to Yusuke Kobori in Tokyo on May 19, 2008, Alfaro has won his last three bouts.
THREE UNDEFEATED FUTURE STARS SPARK UNDERCARD
Three exciting and undefeated fighters will be featured on the undercard. Highly touted welterweight James "The King" De La Rosa (19-0, 12 KOs), a Mexican fighting out of San Benito, Texas, will take on rugged veteran Lenin "Volcano" Arroyo (20-10-1, 4 KOs), a Costa Rican now fighting out of Miami.
WBA No. 2-ranked super welterweight Nelson Linares (18-0-1, 11 KOs), from Barinas, Venezuela, will attempt to remain unbeaten opposing 6-foot-2-inch Archak "Shark Attack" TerMelikesetian (16-7, 13 KOs), from Armenia.
Freedom-fighting lightweight Angelo "La Cobra" Santana (6-0, 4 KOs), from Cuba now fighting out of Miami, will try to maintain his unblemished record against veteran Walter Estrada (34-10, 24 KOs), from Monteria, Colombia.
King believes this Halloween promotion with Ruffin at Treasure Island harkens back to his beginnings in boxing where he helped to build Las Vegas into the international tourism destination it is today. King was honored in Las Vegas last year by being inducted into the prestigious Gaming Hall of Fame.
"I started with Cliff Pearlman at Caesars Palace; went on to work with Kirk Kerkorian at MGM; met up with John Fitzgerald, Henry Lewin and John Giovenco at the Las Vegas Hilton; returned to Caesars and Las Vegas Hilton with Arthur Goldberg, who partnered us with Mike Ensign and Tony Alamo at Mandalay Bay; and now I'm starting fresh yet again with another Las Vegas visionary in Phil Ruffin."
