Weights: Kovalev 174.3, Agnew 174.4

By Boxing News - 03/28/2014 - Comments

kovalev55(Photo Credit: Rich Graessle/Main Events) By Allan Fox: Unbeaten WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (23-0-1, 21 KO’s) made weight on Friday for his optional title defense against little known fringe contender Cedric Agnew (26-0, 13 KO’s) on Saturday at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Kovalev weighted in at 174.3 lbs, and looked in good shape. Agnew weighed 174.4 lbs.

Kovalev has knocked out 11 out of his last 12 opponents, and it’s very likely that Agnew will be yet another knockout victim. Agnew will need to up his game just to survive to the final bell in this fight, and he can pretty much forget about trying to win the fight because that’s not going to happen.

Agnew is the soft opponent that was picked out as a showcase fight for Kovalev. It was supposed to let him shine to get fans interested in a Kovalev vs. Adonis Stevenson fight later on this year, but that fight won’t be happening now that Stevenson has signed a contract with Showtime. There won’t be a fight between the two punchers. Instead, Kovalev has few options for appealing fights in the division.

Stevenson isn’t much better off, as the only thing he has to look forward to is fighting the winner of the Beibut Shumenov vs. Bernard Hopkins fight, and that’s not a big deal. Shumenov isn’t well known among casual fans, and Hopkins is pushing 50, and hasn’t fought a good opponent since his loss to Chad Dawson in 2011. Hopkins stands no chance against Stevenson, and it’s still unknown if Hopkins will ever agree to take that fight.

In weights for the co-feature, light welterweight Karim Mayfield weighed in at 139.6 lbs. His opponents Thomas Dulorme 139.8. During the face off both fighters started to choke each other and they had to be separated. Hopefully, the fight turns out to be as good as the face off, because this could be interesting if both of them bring the same kind of intensity to the ring.

HBO may need to try and get some of the super middleweight contenders to move up in weight to face Kovalev, because after this fight he’s not going to have anyone to fight, not that this is a good fight. It’s a mismatch, and not too many boxing fans are excited about it due to them not knowing who Agnew is.



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