Former IBF champ Joseph Agbeko officially retires from boxing

After four years of hibernation, Joseph “King Kong” Agbeko has called it quits from the sport that made him a household name in Ghana.

Agbeko, 44, announced his retirement from boxing in an interview with BoxingScene.

“Yes, I’m retired. I decided to quit boxing long ago, but I’m yet to make it official,” Agbeko said. “Boxing is a sport where nobody has to retire you. You have to retire yourself, because it’s a sport that you either give or take. When you begin to feel the pain of punches, then you’ve to know that your body can’t take it anymore. So you’ve to get away from it, because it’s better to retire and live a healthy life than to put yourself in the ring and get hurt.”

Agbeko’s retirement announcement comes four years after his last ring outing, against Albert Commey in 2020. Commey lost a fifth-round TKO to the Ghanaian boxing legend in his native Accra, Ghana.

Ghana’s Agbeko became the country’s fifth world champion, in 2007, after David Kotei, Azumah Nelson, Ike Quartey and Alfred Kotey. At 27, Agbeko retired Nicaragua’s Luis Alberto Perez in seven rounds to become the IBF bantamweight titleholder – a belt he defended twice before losing to Colombia’s Yonnhy Perez two years later.

Agbeko exercised a rematch clause to regain his title 14 months later. However, he would go on to lose the IBF belt again to Mexico’s Abner Mares in 2011. That defeat ended his reign as world titlist after he failed to reclaim the title in a rematch four months later.

Agbeko faced many great fighters at 118 during his heyday, including in a 12-round unanimous decision defeat to Cuba’s Guillermo Rigondeaux in 2013. Since then, Agbeko only came close to another world title again in 2021, when he won and defended the WBO Africa bantamweight title three times.

When a world championship fight failed to materialize, Agbeko blamed the WBO for deliberately frustrating his career despite his being rated in the top three by the sanctioning body. Now, Agbeko has turned his attention to mentoring the next generation of Ghanaian fighters to reach their full potential.

He is currently focused on nurturing the careers of Theophilus Allotey and amateur fighter Benedict Badu.

“I’m into mentorship of young boxers,” he said. “Guiding young, juvenile and amateur boxers into reaching their full potential and making sure that they’re able to achieve their dreams so that they can be successful in whatever they do.

“So far, I have two boxers under my mentorship. There is Theophilus Allotey, who was a member of the Black Bombers [Ghana’s national amateur boxing team.] He’s turned pro and already has three fights to his credit and he’s picking up. Also, Benedict Badu, who is a light heavyweight at the amateur ranks, will also have his pro debut before the close of the year, so I’m working on the two of them for now.”

Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at [email protected].