ESPN Boxing

Rafael's remark: Have you caught your breath yet from watching this all-out slugfest? Perez and Agbeko aren't the most well-known fighters around, but they're really good and exceptionally entertaining, something Showtime is aware of since it was featuring Agbeko for the third time in his past four bouts. This was a terrific action fight from start to finish and should be among the honorable mentions when it comes time to assess the best fights of the year. It sure was a sensational way for casino magnate Phil Ruffin to introduce boxing at the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino after making a deal with promoter Don King to host the show. Hopefully, it's only the first of many cards to come for the casino.

Making his third defense, Agbeko, 29, of Bronx, N.Y., by way of Ghana, was coming off a strong performance in July, when he roughed up junior bantamweight champion Vic Darchinyan en route to a clear decision victory. Perez, 30, of Colombia but living in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., was also coming off a strong victory. In May, he went to South Africa and rallied for a 12th-round knockout against formidable contender Silence Mabuza to earn the title shot. Given the styles of Agbeko and Perez, this figured to be a really good fight and that's exactly what they gave us. They both stepped on the gas pedal at the opening bell and never let up through 12 blistering rounds. They appeared to trade rounds back and forth through much of the fight, but Perez was just a little bit more effective with his punches. In the sixth round, Agbeko opened a cut on Perez's left eye with an accidental head butt, something the Perez camp had warned referee Robert Byrd to be on the lookout for before the fight. In the seventh round, another head butt to his mouth rattled Perez. But he never folded. Instead, he seemed to go to another gear. There was a bit of controversy in the 10th round. A head butt from Perez clearly hurt Agbeko, who turned away and went down on the end of Perez's follow-up punch. Byrd ruled it a knockdown, even though it was clearly caused by a head butt. Nevada's new replay rule, in effect for the first time, could not be utilized because it can only be used in fight-ending situations. Agbeko got up but complained to Byrd to no avail. Fortunately, the knockdown did not impact the outcome of the fight, although the scores were a bit wider than they probably should have been. Regardless, it was a terrific fight and an outstanding victory for Perez, who said he was open to a rematch. Agbeko, obviously, felt he won the fight and also expressed interest in a rematch.

Rafael's remark: What a pleasure it's been to watch DeMarco, 23, of Mexico, mature before our eyes. From wild brawler to a measured professional with a game plan, DeMarco has improved dramatically over the past couple of years. The hard work paid off with a brilliant performance against Alfaro, 25, of Nicaragua, a former titleholder and dangerous puncher. DeMarco picked up an interim belt, which makes him the mandatory challenger for titleholder Edwin Valero. However, Valero is saddled with visa problems getting into the United States because of legal issues in his native Venezuela as well as the fact he is only licensed in Texas in the United States because of a previous medical issue. So if Valero is unable to defend his title, he'll eventually be stripped and DeMarco will be elevated.

DeMarco continued his strong run with a third very impressive win in a row this year against a quality opponent. He stopped Almazbek "Kid Diamond" Raiymkulov in February, knocked out Anges Adjaho in July to earn the title bout and then took Alfaro apart for the TKO win. DeMarco was in control all the way, leading 90-81 and 89-82 (twice) on the scorecards when he finally ended matters in the 10th round.

DeMarco, the son-in-law of former bantamweight and junior featherweight titlist Raul "Jibaro" Perez, used a two-handed attack, worked his left jab with precision and mixed in a good body attack to wear Alfaro down. The blows caused Alfaro's left eye to swell by the fourth round and his nose to bleed by the eighth round. Alfaro was fading in the 10th round when DeMarco ended it. A right hand hurt Alfaro and sent him into the ropes, although referee Joe Cortez did not rule a knockdown even though the ropes held him up. But the bloody Alfaro went down moments later from a combination. Then he went down again from a right hand. And then he finally took a knee, causing Cortez to call it off.

Rafael's remark: Although Showtime televised the top two bouts on the card, promoter Don King utilized his Web site to make the undercard available for $5.99 with this heavyweight bout being the highlight. Austin, 39, and Williamson, 41, are both retreads looking to hang on and they made for a solid fight. In March 2007, Austin got a massively undeserved mandatory title shot against Wladimir Klitschko and was pulverized in two rounds. He almost didn't make it out of the first round of this one as Williamson, who has always had tremendous power but zero chin, rocked him with several booming right hands. But Austin survived and came back to stop Williamson in the fourth round when he floored him with a crisp right uppercut. Williamson, who also has a loss to Klitschko in a 2004 nontitle bout and a loss to Chris Byrd in a 2005 title fight, beat the count. However, referee Russell Mora didn't like how Williamson looked and he called off the fight. Williamson, of course, said he was OK to continue. Austin called out Vitali Klitschko and could conceivably get the chance to face him. If former titlist Oleg Maskaev wins his upcoming fight, Maskaev and Austin likely will meet in a final eliminator with the winner getting a mandatory shot at Vitali Klitschko. Does that idea depress you or what? But else do you expect from the WBC?

In other undercard results: welterweight prospect James De La Rosa (20-0, 12 KOs), in his first fight since signing with King, won a lopsided decision against Lenin Arroyo (20-11-1, 4 KOs). The judges had it 100-88 (twice) and 99-90. Heavyweight prospect Bermane Stiverne (18-1-1, 17 KOs) stopped James Butler (8-7-1, 8 KOs) at 1:34 of the seventh round. Junior middleweight prospect Nelson Linares (19-0-1, 12 KOs), the older brother of former featherweight and junior lightweight titlist Jorge Linares, stopped Archak TerMeliksetian at the end of the fifth round. Lightweight prospect Angelo Santana (7-0, 4 KOs) took a six-round decision against Miguel Gonzalez (6-2, 6 KOs) with all three judges scoring it 58-56. Junior lightweight Marvin Quintero (17-2, 13 KOs) stopped Walter Estrada (34-11) at 25 seconds of the second round.

Rafael's remark: We made the sacrifice for the Fight Freaks by watching this garbage fight on a garbage pay-per-view. If you didn't order it, and most of you probably didn't, be thankful. Be very thankful. You saved the money and the 40 minutes it took for this horrible fight to play out. At 38 and with a gazillion miles on his boxing odometer, Campas is totally shot. He was not effective as he followed the quicker Camacho around the ring and really never landed anything serious. Camacho is one of the biggest wastes of talent ever. He came in soft and way out of shape -- he blew weight by 5½ pounds -- and always looked petrified to engage Campas. The result was a wrestling match on par with the worst John Ruiz or Derrick Gainer fights you can find.

Camacho, 31, of Puerto Rico, fought dirty. He grabbed, held, head butted, elbowed, hit low, hit after the bell and threw Campas to the canvas. He flirted with disqualification throughout the train wreck of a fight that he clearly didn't want to be involved in as the crowd booed heartily. Referee Laurence Cole, who had a very tough night maintaining control, docked Camacho points in the third, fourth and 10th rounds for various dirty tactics. He could have easily taken more points. Frankly, Camacho should have been disqualified for his ridiculous tactics. Obviously frustrated by Camacho's total disregard for the rulebook, Campas looked like he wanted to quit multiple times, especially when a head butt opened a cut over his left eye in the fifth round. When Camacho wasn't mugging Campas, he was able to outbox him because he's faster. That's why he won the decision in one of the worst fights of the year. Campas, of Mexico, dropped to 1-5-1 in his past seven. The draw? It was an eight-round split draw in his last fight on May 9 -- against Hector Camacho Sr.

If this fight wasn't gross enough, there was something even more appalling: former two-time junior middleweight titleholder Fernando Vargas was ringside to watch Camacho and said afterward he wants to come out of retirement to fight him. Camacho has been trying to goad Vargas into a fight for the past few months, and it might work. Vargas hasn't fought since losing his third in a row, a decision to Ricardo Mayorga in November 2007. Vargas was interviewed on the pay-per-view and his speech sounds poor and he has to be at least 200 pounds. If he does get back into the ring to fight Camacho (or anyone), there will be a lot of shame to go around.

Rafael's remark: Without a spot for him this fall on one of its cards, promoter Golden Boy allowed Escalante the chance to fight on promoter Zeferino Ramirez's card in his hometown of El Paso, where he has established a bit of a following. And if Escalante, 24, who was born in Mexico, continues to perform the way he did against the Dominican Republic's Fulgencio that following should continue to grow. Escalante, who recently signed with experienced and underrated manager Lester Bedford, could no longer make the 122-pound junior featherweight limit, so he moved up in weight. Although Escalante was 128 pounds for this fight, he plans on campaigning in the 126-pound featherweight division and should add some depth to a division that includes quality fighters as Chris John, Steven Luevano, Yuriorkis Gamboa and is about to include junior featherweight titlist Juan Manuel Lopez. After a fairly even first round, Escalante took Fulgencio out in impressive fashion in the second. A hard right hand to the temple floored Fulgencio face first. As he tried to get up, his legs gave out on him and referee Rafael Ramos called it off. It was a terrific one-punch knockout. Escalante won his eighth in a row since a fluky knockout loss to former junior flyweight titlist Mauricio Pastrana in January 2007. Fulgencio dropped his second in a row and fell to 2-4 in his past six, with each of the losses coming by knockout.

Rafael's remark: The parade of South African fighters to fight for the IBF's 130-pound title may never end as Baloyi, a former two-time titleholder, scored the shutout decision against Argentina's Arrieta, 33, to gain another crack at the belt held by Robert Guerrero. Baloyi, 34, had lost the title to countryman Malcolm Klassen via seventh-round knockout in April; Klassen subsequently lost it to Guerrero in August. Baloyi opened a cut over Arrieta's right eye in the eighth round. In the 11th, Arrieta was docked a point for holding by American referee Pat Russell. Arrieta saw his four-fight winning streak come to an end. His last defeat? A fifth-round knockout loss to former ESPN.com prospect of the year Victor Ortiz in September 2008.