Prior to losing via fifth round TKO to THE RING magazine World Cruiserweight Champion Tomasz Adamek last Saturday, Andrew Golota came in at a career-high weight of 256 ½. This is a speck over 20 pounds more than the expected combined weight for Halloween evening's IBF bantamweight title bout between titleholder Joseph Agbeko and challenger Yonnhy Perez (live on Showtime Championship Boxing, 9PM ET/PT, 8PM central, from the Treasure Island Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada). In fact, Golota hasn't weighed under 236 in over 15 years. But that's neither here or there.

But it's curiously funny that it takes two virtually obscure, world-class bantamweight fighters to put value into context; showing fight fans that bigger isn't necessarily better.

And by comparing the smaller classes to today's heavyweights, that's a foregone conclusion.

Speaking of conclusions, where Adamek-Golota lacked suspense –Come on, Golota was either going to mentally implode or get stopped- Agbeko-Perez has all the variables for a memorable thriller and, for bantamweights, age is certainly one of them.

Agbeko, 27-1 (22) is 29 but a somewhat spread-out 29; fighting three times since his seventh round stoppage of Luis Perez in September of 2007 (for the IBF bantamweight belt) and enduring an almost 15 month lapse between his title win and his first defense, a majority decision win over William Gonzalez in December of 2008.

Perez, 19-0 (14), is 30 but is seemingly a fresher 30, having only fought four years, professionally, to Agbeko's 11 pro years. To the Colombian's advantage, Perez has chalked up six wins in only two years. His last fight, a 12th round TKO win over South African Silence Mabuza was a highly entertaining, back-and-forth scrap, insuring Perez the mandatory shot at the winner of last July's Agbeko-Vic Darchinyan title tilt.

Against Darchinyan, who climbed a division from junior bantamweight (where the Armenian currently holds three alphabet titles), Agbeko, raked number four in THE RING's bantamweight ratings, gave us all a surprise by controlling the fight. The Ghanaian not only made Darchinyan miss down the stretch, but also surprised him with excellent movement, quick hands and powerful counterpunching. As a result of the unanimous decision loss, Darchinyan subsequently tucked his tail between his legs and returned to the 115-pound division.

Where Agbeko-Darchinyan was comparatively one-sided, Perez-Mabuza was more up-in-the-air when Perez' conditioning and double-fisted power clinched the harrowing 12-round battle for the opportunity to fight for Agbeko's strap. Seemingly, a new bantamweight threat arose out of nowhere.

In the build-up to Saturday night's fight, both men are adamant in their predictions of victory, although Agbeko is vocally more confident, staking his claim on the knockout win. But is the Accra native's confidence misleading him?

Consider this: Darchinyan, once a flyweight, now a unified junior bantamweight titlist, came to 118 to face Agbeko and lost by a unanimous decision. Sure, that wouldn't seem too unreasonable but, at the same time, "The Raging Bull" isn't a natural 118-pounder. Agbeko still couldn't put him away. Seven months prior to the Darchinyan fight, Agbeko pulled off a majority decision win in a defense against William Gonzalez. The last stoppage Agbeko recorded was his seventh round win over Luis Perez over two years ago. Against, Yonnhy Perez, THE RING's number five bantamweight contender, the do-just-enough method just won't be enough.

In Perez' last six outings (all wins), four ended within the distance, three ending within six rounds. Based on this and Perez' active schedule (four fights in 2008 alone, the Agbeko fight being Perez' second in 2009), quite a few fans and observers are looking to his powerful attack to be the deciding variable against Agbeko. This writer sees it no differently.

To be specific, the same pressure Perez employed against Mabuza is the ultimate equalizer and can quell even the most fervent counterpunching effort by Agbeko. I'm going out on a limb (maybe not. It's not so much a terrible reach) and picking Perez via seventh round TKO.

With the youth of Perez' career, the focus will weigh heavily on a new title reign, should he succeed Saturday night. Perennial bantam standouts like Wladimir Sidorenko (THE RING's number three contender) and Fernando Montiel (THE RING's number nine contender) still wait in the wings as does THE RING's number one contender WBC titlist Hozumi Hasegawa. And who's to say Perez couldn't field challenges from other rising junior bantams like IBF titleholder Nonito Donaire, Alexander Munoz or even Darchinyan, should the latter once again brave the 118-pound scene? Whatever the case (and the same can be said for Agbeko), despite his prospect-like record, Perez and his promoters at Thompson Boxing have careful career considerations ahead of them. After all, 30 much more an established age for a bantamweight fighter, especially when you consider that undefeated Abner Mares also has 19 fights to his credit, but he's only 23.

Of course, this could all blow up in my face and Agbeko could win. Odds are, if "King Kong" pulls it out, it'll be via a close split decision. No matter what happens, big thrills are damn near guaranteed from two small wonders.