Yonnhy Pérez Explained

Yonnhy Pérez
Nickname:El Colombiano
("The Colombian")
Weight:Bantamweight
Height:5 ft 6 in
Reach:69 in
Nationality:Colombian
Birth Date:18 January 1979
Birth Place:Cartagena, Colombia
Style:Orthodox
Total:23
Wins:20
Ko:14
Losses:2
Draws:1

Yonnhy Pérez (born 18 January 1979) is a Colombian former professional boxer who competed from 2005 to 2011. He held the IBF bantamweight title from 2009 to 2010, reaching a peak ranking of number three at bantamweight by The Ring magazine in December 2010.[1]

Professional career

Although born in Colombia, Pérez has fought all but one of his professional fights in the United States. He made his debut on 30 July 2005 in Tucson, Arizona at the age of 26. Pérez made a winning start to his career, knocking out Steve Lozoya in the first round.[2]

Pérez faced his biggest challenge on 29 May 2009, when he travelled to Johannesburg, South Africa to fight Silence Mabuza in an IBF Bantamweight title eliminator. Mabuza, a native of Johannesburg, was a former world champion and had only lost to the renowned Mexican Rafael Marquez. Despite trailing on all three scorecards, Pérez was able to knock Mabuza out in the final round.[3]

IBF bantamweight champion

In his first world title fight Pérez successfully challenged the IBF champion, Joseph Agbeko from Ghana. Agbeko, who in his previous fight defeated Vic Darchinyan, suffered a knockdown (a result of an unintentional headbutt) in the tenth round en route to losing his title to Pérez via a unanimous decision.[4]

On 22 May 2010, Pérez, defending his IBF title for the first time, fought to a majority draw against the unbeaten Mexican Abner Mares. One judge scored the bout 115–113 in favor of Mares while the other two scored it 114–114 even, resulting in Pérez retaining his title. After the fight both boxers claimed that the decision should have gone their way, and both expressed interest in a rematch.[5]

Perez vs. Agbeko II

See main article: article and Yonnhy Perez vs. Joseph Agbeko II. Rather than an immediate rematch with Mares, Pérez faced Agbeko for a second time in the first round of Showtime's bantamweight tournament, while Mares faced Darchinyan on 11 December. Pérez went on to lose a unanimous decision to Agbeko in the match, and a technical decision (on accidental cuts) to Darchinyan on 23 April 2011.[6] In March 2012, having not fought since the losses to Agbeko and Darchinyan, Pérez announced his retirement from boxing, citing a lack of motivation to continue in the sport.[7]

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
23Loss20–2–1 Vic Darchinyan5 (12), 23 Apr 2011
22Loss20–1–1 Joseph AgbekoUD1211 Dec 2010
21Draw20–0–1 Abner Mares1222 May 2010
20Win20–0 Joseph AgbekoUD1231 Oct 2009
19Win19–0 Silence MabuzaTKO12 (12), 29 May 2009
18Win18–0 David MartinezTKO6 (10), 5 Sep 2008
17Win17–0 Oscar AndradeUD1027 Jun 2008
16Win16–0 Manuel SarabiaUD62 May 2008
15Win15–0 Alex BecerraKO4 (8), 1 Mar 2008
14Win14–0 Alexander FedorovTKO4 (10), 5 Oct 2007
13Win13–0 Antonio Maria Cochero DiazRTD2 (8), 7 Sep 2007
12Win12–0 José LaureanoTKO3 (8), 28 Jul 2007
11Win11–0 Samuel LopezKO1 (10), 25 May 2007
10Win10–0 Oscar AndradeUD824 Mar 2007
9Win9–0 Luis AgostoTKO2 (6), 23 Feb 2007
8Win8–0 Arturo BracamontesKO620 Nov 2006
7Win7–0 Arturo BracamontesUD616 Oct 2006
6Win6–0 Larry OlveraTKO6 (8), 15 Sep 2006
5Win5–0 Israel NavarreteKO2 (6)14 Jul 2006
4Win4–0 Daniel Quevedo616 Jun 2006
3Win3–0 Edison Morillo1 (6), 19 May 2006
2Win2–0 Leshaun BlairTKO4 (4), 1 Sep 2005
1Win1–0 Steve Lozoya1 (4), 30 Jul 2005

Notes and References

  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20101210163801/http://www.ringtv.com/ratings/bantamweight/ "The Ring Bantamweight Ratings"
  2. Web site: boxer: Yonnhy Perez. Boxrec. 24 May 2010.
  3. Web site: Perez KOs Mabuza . Fightnews.com . 24 May 2010 . 3 March 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303202045/http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/perez-kos-mabuza-12460 . dead .
  4. Web site: Yonnhy Perez Dethrones Joseph Agbeko . Boxing fanhouse . 24 May 2010 . 7 July 2012 . https://archive.today/20120707232827/http://boxing.fanhouse.com/2009/11/01/yonnhy-perez-dethrones-joseph-agbeko/ . dead .
  5. News: Perez keeps IBF bantam belt with majority draw . USA Today. 24 May 2010 . 22 May 2010.
  6. Web site: Blake. Brian O.. Showtime Holds Press Conference For Upcoming Bantamweight Tournament . SportsBettingWorld.com . 4 October 2010 . 5 October 2010.
  7. Christ, Scott (8 March 2012). "Yonnhy Perez Announces Retirement From Boxing". SB Nation. Vox Media. Retrieved 24 October 2016.