(Joseph Agbeko reacts to a low blow; photo: Tom Casino, Showtime)
In the championship fight of the Showtime Bantamweight Tournament at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, a close, action-packed, and interesting fight between Abner Mares and Joseph Agbeko was overshadowed by a terrible performance from referee Russell Mora, who failed to penalize Mares for the plethora of illegal punches he landed below Agbeko's beltline and went so far as to rule a knockdown on a blatant low blow in the 11th round, a round Agbeko had been winning.
Ultimately, Mares was granted a majority decision with the scorecards reading 113-113 and 115-111 twice. Unfortunately, Mora was the story. Jim Gray did not choose Mares, the winning fighter, for his first post-fight interview as is customary, instead justifiably choosing to question Mora about the low blow debacle. Mora initially contended that the punch Mares landed in the 11th was legal, then relented somewhat after seeing the replay, though he said he needed to review the tape more carefully in a contentious interview.
Mares, when interviewed after Mora, said he would be open to a rematch, and with Nonito Donaire already locked up in his next fight and Showtime reportedly owning an option on the winner of the tournament, a rematch would be the only fair outcome given the controversy. Agbeko's team claimed that they will protest the ruling with the IBF, and I don't blame them one bit.
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