Caoimhin Agyarko soundly defeats Juan Carlos Rubio
In his latest at bat, middleweight prospect fighter Caoimhin “Black Thunder” Agyarko (11-0, 7 KO’s) secured his eleventh straight victory. He pulled this off by running through southpaw Juan Carlos “El Terri” Rubio (18-2, 9 KO’s) by way of unanimous decision. The beneficial win also stood as the first defense of his secondary WBA International middleweight title. Agyarko won the vacant title over Noe Larios Jr in his last prizefight on December 22, 2021 by way of knockout.
ONE TRACK MIND
The contest opened in rather respectful fashion as both men did not get overly aggressive and tried to work behind their jabs. While nothing of terrible consequence landed, it was clear that Agyarko was aching to land a straight right down the middle. The shot did connect more than once, but not with the ferocity that Black Thunder was aiming for.
The second and third closely mirrored the action of the first, but in the fourth period Agyarko began to find some traction, offensively speaking. Here he began aiming more thumping hooks down the body to give Rubio a little more to think about. The tactic appeared to work as down the final minute of the period, Black Thunder turned El Terri’s skull into a bobble-head with the same straight right he was looking for all night. Rubio was landing his own quality shots here and there but it was Agyarko who was winning the day.
TO THE CARDS WE GO
Over the fifth and sixth rounds, Black Thunder continued to have more and more offensive success. With his success however, Agyarko paid less and less attention to his own defense which allowed Rubio to score with his own heavy shots. It did appear that Agyarko had the heavier hands but it was not the best look for him to perform in the rather reckless fashion that he was.
In the eighth period, Rubio began showing the first evident signs of wilting. Here his left eye was starting to close and for the first time in the match, he was obviously trying to hold Agyarko who was throwing his power shots with all his might. Despite the extreme aggression that he put into his attack all night, Agyarko was unable to get the knockout, or even a knockdown, and was stretched to the cards. Once read, the Irishman won a predictable decision to the tune of 110-90 twice and 98-92. While this was a good win early in his career, it is very clear that Agyarko needs to pour a great deal of energy in working on his defense and varying his offense.
Reading Time: 3 minutes
By: Bakari Simpson
