On July 11, 2009, Agbeko successfully defended his IBF bantamweight title by scoring a unanimous decision win over former two division champion Vic Darchinyan.
On Halloween night, October 31, 2009, Agbeko lost his IBF title by 12 round unanimous decision to 20-0 Colombian challenger Yonnhy Pérez.
[1] On December 11, 2010, Agbeko was given the chance to regain his IBF title when he took on Yonnhy Pérez in the semi-finals of the Showtime Bantamweight tournament, which was televised live from The Battle at the Boat series at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington.
Rather than brawling as he had done in his first fight with Pérez, Agbeko chose to use his boxing skills and stiff jab to cruise to a unanimous decision victory, with the judges scoring it 116–112, 117-111 and 115–113.
[5] In 2010, to honor Joseph's exploits in the sport of boxing, the town of Sogakope in the Volta Region of Ghana enstooled him as a warrior chief.