(Photo Credit: Larry Levanti/Main Events) By George Goddiess: When victories in the ring begin to come too easy for a rising fighter it becomes important that a test is provided along the road to the next stage. For Sergey Kovalev 2013 was a walk over year as he had four fights, four wins, all by knockout and all in the fourth or earlier. Kovalev finished the year as the new WBO titleholder positioned as a top two if not top three light heavyweight and poised to collide with the king pin of the division Adonis Stevenson.
Outside of Stevenson and fellow titleholder and legend Bernard Hopkins it was becoming difficult to name a fighter who could survive more than a few rounds with the powerful Kovalev. When Cedric Agnew of Chicago, Illinois was announced as Kovalev’s second title defense the major reaction was who? Heading into the fight the feeling was that Kovalev would win by stoppage and that Agnew did not offer all that much.
In the end Sergey Kovalev was well ahead on the cards and won by the stoppage he was predicted to score. However, he was pushed in the process and dragged further into the fight than he had been since 2011. In the process of knocking out Agnew with a crafty left to the body, seemed to start as a jab and torque into a slight hook, he was cut over both eyes and forced to make adjustments. Cedric Agnew put up a tight guard covering his head and was well protected from the devastating right cross that Kovalev can turn out the lights with. In addition to the guard, Agnew would fight aggressively when his back was on the ropes. Such ambushes would push Kovalev back and earn Kovalev’s respect and one of these bursts of aggression resulted in a clash of heads that cut Kovalev over the right eye. In round four Kovalev was breathing out of his mouth and swung wildly, missed, and hit the floor appearing like he was running out of gas. These were all examples of the adversity that Kovalev was presented in this fight.
Kovalev did two things in this fight that were very impressive. First, he jabbed to the body in the first round and continued to do this throughout the fight. Agnew kept the hands up and blocked and partially blocked the attack to the head so Kovalev stabbed at the body. In fact this jab to the body set up the second knockdown of the fight. As the sixth round started Kovalev put Agnew on the ropes and threw a jab to the body that caused Agnew to bend down and be ruled down by referee Samuel Viruet. The jab to the body, well a little bit of a hybrid jab ended the fight. Agnew took away the head so Kovalev took the body. This is very impressive, many punchers become drunk with their power and head hunt in tough fights when frustrated and this did not happen. Second, Kovalev fired the left hook with real conviction after the right cross. In round two this was Kovalev’s go to combination when Agnew went into his shell and he is able to generate lots of power on the left when he brings it after the right hand.
As for Cedric Agnew he was unknown going into the fight and remains an enigma once more after the fight. He is a young fighter with some grit and tenacity who was able to force Kovalev to earn the knockout tonight but did not establish himself or leave his mark in the fight. In the aftermath of his failed title attempt we can see he has poise and a solid defense matched with some crisp and sneaky punching. Unfortunately, he never really came out of his shell enough in the fight to provide more insight into the kind of fighter he is and what more he can do offensively. He revealed moments of promise but they were buried in between moments of inactivity and punishment. Agnew’s path to the title was one of opportunity but not of the best preparation. He had not faced a real top ten opponent and has not faced another young and hungry up and comer, he had an undefeated record and was given a chance to step into the ring for a title. Now he must take the lessons learned and apply it with the fighters he passed over to get the title fight, the top ten contenders and other prospects. He must polish his skills and get seasoning versus real tests not just the guys he is supposed to defeat.
As for Kovalev there still remains a mystery as to who can be a formidable foe and who can be realistically put in front of him given politics, promoters, and television network barriers. The fight everyone wants to see with Adonis Stevenson will probably have to wait even longer as it looks like he will be on track to face Bernard Hopkins given Hopkins is victorious against WBA belt holder Beibut Shumenov. Kovalev may just have to play the waiting game. Jean Pascal won a big victory of Lucien Bute on HBO and would make an interesting opponent for Kovalev. Pascal is a very athletic and explosive fighter much like Stevenson and could be fought in Montreal, Canada in front of a pro Canadian crowd which he would have to deal with if he fought Stevenson. Hopefully, Kovalev can be paired off with a more proven fighter than the likes of Agnew and Ishmayl Sillah.
The welterweight opener pitted undefeated rising prospect Karim Mayfield of California with rebounding prospect Thomas Dulorme from Puerto Rico. What should have been a showcase fight turned into a clinch filled and sloppy fight that really did not showcase much positive from either fighter? In the end Dulorme won a clear unanimous decision victory after piling on a big lead before Mayfield became desperate later on in the fight. The fight was essentially ruined by the lack of either man to establish a consistent offensive advantage and the action was repeatedly paused by excessive clinching. A majority of the clinches were initiated by Dulorme who looked completely uninterested in fighting inside while others were a result of Mayfield getting too inside and smothering his own work. Early in the fight it appeared that both men had a lot of respect for one another and then down the stretch it became a problem of holding and sloppy exchanges.
The fight started off interesting as Dulorme wobbled the knees of Mayfield in the first round with a left hook. Mayfield recovered and the fight settled into a posing sort of fight where Mayfield was wary of Dulorme’s power and was too short to land from the outside but not quite forcing it on the inside. Dulorme was content to stay on the outside and did not open up much most likely due to the quick overhand right that Mayfield was capable of delivering. However, just as any success was made something would impede the action. Either Dulorme would attempt to capitalize on a left hook and take an overhand right that would make him think twice or Mayfield would score a nice punch and be clinched when trying to follow up inside. After the midway point it was clear that Mayfield had to do something or he was on his way to a wide points defeat. Mayfield started to come forward more in round six through eight but still was not able to sustain much of anything at all. The final round was filled with clinching as was the entire fight. Mayfield’s trainer Virgil Hunter tried to inspire desperation to go for the knockout in the last two rounds even telling him that he would rather see him get knocked down or out rather than do enough to lose on points without going for it. Mayfield did not really go all out in the last two rounds, the holding did not help but Mayfield did not seem to fight with the spark necessary. In the end neither fighter looked anywhere near world class and both have a lot to work on.
Thomas Dulorme won but it felt like he did not quite tap into his full potential. He has all of the physical gifts of height and reach coupled with pretty good speed and sharp punching technique but he looks like he has problems mentally. His first instinct in close is to hold which as a taller fighter which he was tonight and is for the division is smart for strategy. But, at a certain point it became less of a strategy and more of a dependency; he could not or would not fight inside. Maybe he was having flashbacks to his 2012 upset at the hands of Luis Abregu because he was timid inside. In round five, seven and nine Dulorme used crafty right hooks inside to catch Mayfield and in the seventh one had him tied up in the ropes a little and one in the ninth hurt Mayfield. It is clear that the physicality is there next are the mentality and the fundamentals. The left hook, a staple of the Garcia gym, looked fantastic as did the jab but the right hand was not a major factor. This is something that needs to be further developed.
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