Two judges scored the bout 114-113 for Agbeko, while the third had it for the native of Ghana, 116-111.

The bout had one disputed knockdown in the seventh round, when television replays showed Darchinyan pushed Agbeko to the canvas. But referee Tommy Kimmons ruled it a scoring punch for Darchinyan.

Agbeko (27-1) shook off the knockdown and peppered Darchinyan with repeated rights to the head the rest of the fight.

Darchinyan, a native of Armenia now living in Australia, did his best work in the middle rounds, when he scored with left hooks to the head. A former flyweight and junior-bantamweight titleholder, Darchinyan is now 32-2-1.

The victory was Agbeko's second as bantamweight champion. He won the 118-pound crown with a seventh-round technical knockout over Luis Perez in 2007 and beat William Gonzalez on Dec. 11 in his first defense.

Agbeko weighed 116 pounds for Saturday's bout, one less than Darchinyan.