Abner Mares awarded tainted title win

Rafael's remark: Showtime's four-man bantamweight tournament came to a rousing but highly controversial conclusion thanks to an absolutely horrendous job of refereeing by Russell Mora. His incompetence ruined an otherwise exciting fight and probably was responsible for Agbeko losing his title. The general consensus is that Mora's performance was one of the single worst jobs by a referee in a big-time fight that you will ever see.

In December, Agbeko, 31, a native of Ghana living in the Bronx, N.Y., and Mares, 25, a 2004 Mexican Olympian living in Hawaiian Gardens, Calif., advanced to the final. Agbeko regained his title by winning a unanimous decision against Yonnhy Perez and Mares won a bloody split decision against Vic Darchinyan. The final was originally set for April 23 in Los Angeles, but Agbeko came down with a sudden case of sciatica when he got off the airplane in Los Angeles several days before the fight, and the bout had to be postponed. It's a shame the fight wasn't rescheduled to take place in California, because if it had been, Mora would have been nowhere near it. Instead, it wound up in Las Vegas, with Mora appointed to officiate the bout (over the prefight objections of Don King, Agbeko's promoter).

Mora made his presence felt in the final 30 seconds of the opening round when Mares was credited with a questionable knockdown. Yes, he landed a light left hand, but the real reason Agbeko went down (and halfway through the ropes) was because he slipped. Many referees would have ruled it a slip. We'll give Mora the benefit of the doubt on this call. But it was all downhill from there.

Mares was rolling up a lead on the scorecards in the exciting fight, but he was also continually landing low blows. They were not necessarily egregious shots below the belt, but they were below the belt line, even if only slightly. They were illegal punches, and Mares landed them continually throughout the bout. Mora warned him over and over and never deducted a point. It was shameful. Meanwhile, he was warning Agbeko for pulling Mares' head down, which may have happened a couple of times, but certainly not in as obvious a manner as the low shots. Over and over and over Mares landed low, literally dozens of times in the fight. Mares should have had at least two points deducted for the infractions. Maybe if Mares punched Agbeko in the foot, Mora would have finally done something about it.

Agbeko opened a cut over Mares' eye on an accidental head clash in the sixth round. In the seventh, Mares landed two clear low blows and Mora was no longer even bothering to warn him. Showtime broadcasters Al Bernstein and Antonio Tarver were about to lose their minds. It got worse in the 11th round. Mares landed a left hand directly in the middle of Agbeko's groin, on the cup. He dropped to the canvas in obvious pain. To that point, and to his credit, Agbeko had not done a lot of complaining about the low blows. But when Mora ruled a knockdown instead of a low blow, Agbeko was obviously upset. It was a horrific call, one that a professional referee at the highest level -- and who was in perfect position to see it -- simply cannot miss. After the round ended, Agbeko's cornermen were incredulous, as were the broadcasters. Agbeko had been winning the 11th round, too. So instead of a 10-9 round in his favor, there was a three-point swing to a 10-8 round in Mares' favor because of the bogus knockdown.

Although Mares, who became the first fighter that Golden Boy has taken from his pro debut to a world title since it was founded in 2002, fought well and it didn't appear as though he was throwing low blows on purpose, the reality is that he did and he should have been penalized for them. Had Mora taken away points and not blown the knockdown call, we're looking at a much different outcome.

Even when Showtime's Jim Gray, who was on top of his game, showed Mora a replay from several angles that clearly showed the 11th-round knockdown punch was in actuality a low blow, Mora would not man up about it. Gray told him he was wrong right to his face, and surely everyone watching cheered. It's a shame that Mora's disgraceful performance probably cost Agbeko his title and so badly overshadowed a pair of gutsy performances from the fighters in an entertaining bout. If there is any justice, the IBF, which sanctioned the title bout, will order an immediate rematch. And if it's in Las Vegas, Mora shouldn't be allowed in the arena, much less the ring.

Rafael's remark: Tua was once a fearsome heavyweight contender (who lost a lopsided decision in his only title shot against a prime Lennox Lewis in 2000), but he has been done for a while. It was more obvious than ever in this fight as the 38-year-old Tua, a Samoan living in New Zealand, lost this rematch to the long-faded Barrett, 40, of New York. In July 2010, Tua and Barrett met in Atlantic City, N.J., and Barrett deserved the victory but was held to a majority draw, which he closed by knocking Tua down for the first time in his career, in the 12th round. They both took interim fights -- Barrett was held to a woeful draw against sub-.500 journeyman Charles Davis in January and Tua outpointed sub-.500 journeyman Demetrice King in March -- ahead of the rematch.

As usual in recent years, Tua was very sluggish in the early going. Barrett was tagging him and Tua was simply following him around and not throwing nearly enough punches. In the third round, Barrett opened a cut in the corner of Tua's right eye, which bled for most of the fight. Tua fought from behind the whole bout, but he did make up some ground in the middle rounds. He was clearly desperate in the late going when he landed a left hand behind Barrett's head in the 10th round and was warned by referee Brad Vocale.

Moments later, Tua hurt Barrett with a left hook, the punch that knocked out so many opponents earlier in his career but that was virtually absent in this fight. Tua didn't follow up on the shot. Instead, he stuck his tongue out and raised his hands to excite the crowd, but he let Barrett off the hook. He had Barrett in big trouble again at the end of the 11th round, but the bell sounded to save him. Tua, who had to realize he was behind, finally floored Barrett with a minute to go in the 12th round when he unloaded a flurry of about eight blows, including a right hand to the chin, as the crowd went absolutely wild. Barrett made it to his feet and held on, but he also ate a few more punches. To be able to survive the last minute, he clearly was in great shape for the fight. It was a very exciting ending to what was a decent fight between two over-the-hill former contenders. The loss killed Tua's chance for a possible fight with one of the Klitschko brothers. Neither guy is likely to get another significant fight, so if they want to keep going, a third fight could be their best bet.

Rafael's remark: Kennedy, 25, of Philadelphia, is still young, but he has been in several tough fights, including a 12-round decision win against Jorge Diaz in a grueling slugfest in March. Maybe, just maybe, those tough fights have caught up to him already, as he was upset by Lopez, 24, of Mexico, in the main event of "Top Rank Live." Lopez lost an eight-round decision to Diaz in March 2010, but he is now 6-1 since that defeat after consistently outworking Kennedy throughout the bout. The fight featured some good action, but Lopez got the better of it most of the time. Lopez landed a lot of solid shots and, after a fairly even first half of the fight, Kennedy began to assert himself with more authority in the second half. By the 12th round, Kennedy's nose and left eye were bleeding and both of his eyes were swollen; the final verdict was obvious. Not sure where Kennedy goes from here. For Lopez, this is, by far, the best win of his career. A rematch with Diaz wouldn't be out of the question, as their first fight was competitive.

Rafael's remark: Dargan, 26, of Philadelphia, was a standout amateur and is coming along nicely as a pro. Trained by his cousin, the well-respected Naazim Richardson, Dargan rolled past Suazo with ease and looked good doing it as he dished out a one-sided beatdown. He dropped Suazo, 31, of Tucson, Ariz., with a left hook in the opening round and cruised. He cut him over the right eye in the second round and was peppering him with shots, with nothing coming back, when Suazo's corner threw in the towel and referee Benjy Esteves Jr. called it off at 1 minute, 20 seconds of the sixth round. Dargan is a prospect to keep an eye on, although he has not been very active. He has had only two fights so far in 2011 and fought just twice in 2010.

Rafael's remark: Katsidis, 30, has been one of the most exciting action fighters of the past decade, but he had fallen on hard times after suffering back-to-back losses. He was stopped in the ninth round challenging lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez in a terrific battle in November. Then Katsidis was outclassed in a decision loss to Robert Guerrero in April. Aiming to get back in the win column, Katsidis returned home to Australia, where he hadn't fought since 2006. Originally, Katsidis was supposed to face England's Graham Earl, whom he had stopped in the fifth round in England in 2007 in an all-time classic slugfest. But when they could not finalize the paperwork, Lozada, 28, of Mexico -- a journeyman with a lot of experience and solid power -- was brought in as a replacement.

Katsidis, who moved up to junior welterweight for the bout, had an easy fight for a change. He rolled through Lozada, attacking him to the body and finally taking him out with a left hook to the body at 2 minutes, 18 seconds of the third round. It was a triumphant homecoming for Katsidis, who figures to remain at 140 pounds. Trainer and manager Brendon Smith said he and Katsidis will talk about the next fight in the coming days, but he told ESPN.com that they have interest in a rematch with former lightweight champ Joel Casamayor, who stopped Katsidis in the 10th round of a fabulous HBO fight in 2008. Smith also said they'll be paying close attention to Erik Morales' Sept. 17 fight against Lucas Matthysse, as they also have interest in facing Morales.

Rafael's remark: Slice, of course, is best known for the YouTube videos of his backyard brawls that launched him as a mixed martial artist and curiosity. Between stints in the now-defunct Elite XC and UFC, Slice, 37, of Coral Springs, Fla., created huge buzz but just wasn't all that competitive when facing real opponents. After some time off, he turned his attention to boxing. He put his pro boxing debut off once, but he eventually had a change of heart and spent time training in Southern California to prepare for it. He made his debut against Wade, 39, of St. Charles, Mo., whose sole purpose was to serve as cannon fodder. Mission accomplished. It was hard to tell if Slice has any kind of boxing ability because this was practically over before you could blink.

Slice went right at Wade, put together a few punches and knocked him out cold with a right uppercut in just 10 seconds. Wade fell through the ropes and was out cold on top of the bottom ring rope, with his body half in the ring and half on the apron. He had to leave the ring on a stretcher. So Slice, still a curiosity, will get a lot of attention, but he fought the weakest possible opponent that promoter Gary Shaw could have lined up for him. Maybe he can develop. At his age, it seems unlikely. But best of luck to him. Nothing wrong with him giving it a try. At the very least, that should be respected. Shaw said Slice will return Oct. 15, probably on a card in Nebraska.

Rafael's remark: Before the fight, Ronnie Shields, Cintron's trainer, proclaimed this was a must-win fight for his man. He said if Cintron lost, his career was over. Cintron, 31, a former welterweight titlist, was desperate for a win after losing his previous two fights and looking very bad in both of them. First, there was the bizarre May 2010 fourth-round technical decision loss to Paul Williams, in which Cintron fell (some say jumped) out of the ring after getting his feet tangled with Williams' and then didn't make any attempt to try to continue. Then came his woeful return on July 9, when he did almost nothing in a lethargic, lopsided decision loss to Carlos Molina. Cintron, a native of Puerto Rico living in Houston, where Shields' gym is, got the win he needed in the ESPN2/ESPN3 "Friday Night Fights" main event, but he didn't look good doing it in what was a pretty boring fight.

Despite Cintron and Smith combining to throw tons of punches, the bout just wasn't all that interesting -- and it was made even worse by Smith's insufferable barking on every punch he threw. His constant, amateurish grunting made him sound like boxing's version of Monica Seles. Thank goodness for the mute button. Cintron landed a lot of shots, but he put virtually no snap on them. He simply didn't display the kind of power that once made him a feared knockout artist. Smith, 24, of Miami, was also active but didn't seem to throw with real conviction and never seemed to hurt Cintron, although he did open a small cut over his left eye in the final round. Smith is what he is: a solid guy who can probably hang with anyone, but probably not good enough to become a serious contender. Cintron won, but he probably didn't impress anyone enough to take him seriously as a top-level contender or excite anyone at HBO or Showtime enough to warrant his return any time soon on their airwaves.

Rafael's remark: In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Diaz was a junior welterweight and welterweight contender. That was a long time ago, when he was stopped in world title fights by a prime Shane Mosley and Antonio Margarito in 2000 and 2002, respectively. From 2005 to 2008, Diaz was retired, before he decided to make a return to the ring. In December 2009, it appeared the end was real when he was stopped in the seventh round by Victor Ortiz. So it had been 20 months before Diaz took this fight, the main event on Telefutura's "Solo Boxeo Tecate," which was intended to be his farewell bout. The 35-year-old Diaz was fighting at the Fantasy Springs Casino in his adopted hometown of Indio, Calif., and moved to 17-0 there as he stopped Zepeda, who didn't come out for the ninth round.

As usual, Diaz was aggressive, although it took him a couple of rounds to get rolling. He opened a cut over Zepeda's left eye in the third round in what was a good action fight, which didn't come as much of a surprise. Diaz was breaking Zepeda down to the head and body, and with legend Thomas Hearns watching from ringside, Zepeda mounted a bit of a charge in the eighth round when he connected with several shots while Diaz had his hands down. But Zepeda was running out of gas, and Diaz rallied at the end of the round before referee Jose Cobian stopped the fight at the request of Zepeda's corner before the ninth round began. Diaz said before the fight that this would be the last of his career. If it is, he had himself a solid career. He fought for a world title twice, fought on HBO and Showtime, faced numerous quality opponents and was regularly in crowd-pleasing bouts. Zepeda, 34, of Mexico, long a journeyman, was fighting for the first time in a year and lost his fourth in a row.

Rafael's remark: In April, Panama's Concepcion lost his flyweight belt in front of a hometown crowd via 11th-round TKO to Mexico's Hernan "Tyson" Marquez in an extraordinary battle that is a clear fight of the year candidate. It was a special fight and Concepcion and Marquez both took a ton of punishment. Making his comeback from that grueling slugfest, Concepcion, 25, looked strong in destroying Vargas on a spectacular knockout in just 1 minute, 16 seconds. Concepcion was originally supposed to face Cesar Canchila, but Canchila suffered an injury and Vargas replaced him on short notice.

Concepcion landed some hard shots in the first minute, then ended it in sudden and violent fashion. He unleashed a powerful straight right hand that connected flush with Vargas' face. He immediately fell backward like he had been shot, coming to rest with the bottom ring rope holding him up. Vargas was out, and referee Hector Afu didn't bother to finish the count. Almost as impressive as the knockout was how Concepcion climbed up to the top ring rope and did a huge backflip into the center of the ring to celebrate. Vargas, 30, of Mexico, a former interim strawweight beltholder, dropped to 2-4 in his past six fights.

Rafael's remark: In February, the 22-year-old Ioka, of Japan, knocked out fine titleholder Oleydong Sithsamerchai in the fifth round to win a 105-pound title in an upset in just his seventh professional fight. For his first defense, Ioka -- who went 95-10 with 64 knockouts in the amateur ranks -- had to make a mandatory defense against Hernandez, 24, of Mexico, a dangerous opponent. Ioka, who pressured Hernandez throughout the bout and bloodied his nose early on, came through with the clear decision for another quality win. Because the fight was in Japan, the WBC's awful open scoring system was utilized, so the scores were announced after the fourth round and the eighth round, so everyone knew Ioka was ahead after both announcements -- 39-38 and 39-37 (twice) and 79-74 and 78-74 (twice). Hernandez tried to pick up the pace, but Ioka took what he had to dole out and got him in some trouble with a barrage of blows in the 11th round, remaining in control to the final bell.