Cedric Agnew talks about the upcoming fight on March 29:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=ANaBL1CyqgE
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Cedric Agnew talks about the upcoming fight on March 29:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=ANaBL1CyqgE
This is going to be short and brutal.. agnew doesnt know what he's getting into but I respect his willingness to step up.
Agnew don't have the power to keep Kovalev at bay :eek: this will be a beat-down :o
We saw what happened to the last guy who trash talked Kovalev.
This looks and sounds like an entertaining fight. Watching Kovalev in the ring is a privileged.
Poor dude. From Yusef Mack to Kovalev huh...kinda like riding around in a well built shopping cart and then thinking you can drive it onto a busy nighway when you leave the store. I can't get over how some still dismiss him as "just a puncher". The way he steps with people and varies the right is obscene.
Kovalev defending WBO Light Heavyweight title vs. young, undefeated challenger Cedric Agnew, live on HBO next Saturday from Atlantic City
by D. Jeremiah Trella
It's the age-old dilemma of any fighter who looks too dominant in his recent performances: "What do you do when no one wants to fight you?" Such is the situation of reigning WBO Light Heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev.
The answer: find the best young contender available who is willing to step into the ring and risk his glossy record in exchange for a shot at your title, big-time TV exposure, and a chance at stardom. That is precisely what Kovalev will have in front of him next Saturday, March 29, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City when he takes on Cedric Agnew (26-0, 13KOs).
After his 4-round destruction of the previously unbeaten Nathan Cleverly in Cardiff, Wales last August to win the WBO title, Sergey Kovalev has set out on a quest to raze the entire Light Heavyweight division to the ground. His main target is the current WBC and lineal (RING Magazine) Light Heavyweight Champion, Adonis Stevenson. Both Stevenson and Kovalev are coming off sensational years where each fought 4 times and scored 4 sensational knockout victories, seemingly on a collision course that will end in an inevitable showdown. Or at least HBO hopes so. They recently featured Kovalev's title defense vs. Ismayl Silakh on the undercard of Stevenson's title defense vs. Tony Bellew in Montreal to build hype for the fight.
But while Kovalev seems ready to fight Stevenson tomorrow, Stevenson (and his promoter Yvon Michel) seem to want to hold off for awhile. Michel has stated that Adonis will fight 3 times this year, and he hopes that the year will culminate in the Kovalev clash. Stevenson will fight Andrzej Fonfara on May 24.
So while Kovalev waits for his chance at the 175lb lineage, he'll continue to make it impossible for Stevenson to ignore him by staying active and staying visible to boxing fans around the world by fighting on HBO against the best challengers in the world who have the guts to face the Russian-born, Florida-based knockout artist.
Enter Cedric Agnew. Little is known about the man even amongst otherwise knowledgeable boxing fans. He doesn't have lots of fights on YouTube. He's only been past 6 rounds 4 times in his 26-fight career. His most notable victory came in his last fight, against two-time World title challenger Yusaf Mack. But one thing we do know about Agnew ***8211; perhaps the most important attribute ***8211; is that he is unafraid of Kovalev, who is widely regarded as, pound-for-pound, arguably the hardest puncher in boxing today.
I was able to dig up a video of Cedric Agnew vs. Alfredo Contreras from December 2012. The fight appeared on the undercard of Donaire vs. Arce, which took place in Houston, Agnew's adopted hometown (Agnew is originally from Chicago, but as Agnew's trainer Bobby Benton is based in Houston, that is where Agnew lives and trains).
Contreras was hardly a world-beater entering the fight with a 13-14-2 record, so it's hard to use the fight as a yardstick vs. an elite operator like Kovalev, but watching the fight, gave me reason to believe that Agnew could well make this fight competitive. Agnew's natural inclination seems to be to fight off of the back foot (which is good since coming forward versus Kovalev is generally ill-advised), and he exhibits good lateral movement without wasting energy. Agnew maintains a high guard and executes that defense very well, making it very hard to land a clean head punch on him.
As recently as June 2013, prior to his bout with Cornelius White, Kovalev's trainer John David Jackson told Ring Magazine that he was trying to make Kovalev "a better body puncher". And to be fair he seems to have succeeded in that effort as Kovalev effectively demonstrated the skills not only against Cornelius White, but particularly in the Cleverly fight in which he won the title, using body punching to create openings to the head which allowed him to make such quick work of Cleverly. Once again, the clash of styles would suggest that a sustained body attack in this fight will be key for Kovalev.
When an Agnew opponent takes a momentary pause between launching a series of punches, few of which land cleanly, Agnew comes back with good combinations of his own, and he isn't afraid to move forward and follow up on his own work when he does land a good clean shot.
However, not only does Kovalev have amazing punching power, but a world-class chin to boot, having only been dropped once in his career, against arguably the most mysteriously dangerous journeyman in all of boxing -- Darnell Boone. No shame in that though -- Boone owns a KO win over Adonis Stevenson and knocked down (and came *very* close to knocking out) the man currently rated as #2 P4P fighter in the world, Andre Ward, albeit early in Ward's career.
So it begs the question of whether Agnew's defensive skills and movement will really matter against a guy like Kovalev who may not need to respect the power in the punches Agnew is throwing back at him. Agnew's best bet is to try and just keep counter-punching and moving and get the fight into the late rounds. Kovalev is a freak of nature relative to other power punchers, because he also possesses extremely high punch output, often throwing close to 100 punches per round.
Conventional wisdom would suggest that no man could sustain that type of pace while still retaining snap on his punches in the late rounds. Problem is, no man has ever gotten to the late rounds vs. Kovalev to find out. Kovalev has never gone beyond 8 rounds in his professional career. If Agnew can take Kovalev's power early, this has the potential to be an exciting, highly-competitive clash that any boxing fan following the red-hot Light Heavyweight scene can't afford to miss.
Are you like jacksonman now?! Agnew got nothing for kov..Quote:
Originally Posted by Freedom
Perhaps, but I think Cedric Agnew deserves his opportunity.Quote:
Originally Posted by FinitoElDinamita
A year ago, Kovalev's and Stevenson's resumes were no better than Cedric's.
Kovalev fights are fun, but this is just a stay-busy fight until they get Stevenson in the ring. Chilemba would have been tougher, quite frankly.
Yeah, early Kovalev stoppage. I'll be amazed if it goes past six.
Houston fighter Agnew eyes light heavyweight title - Houston Chronicle
Cedric Agnew eyes light heavyweight title
By Peter Lim | March 25, 2014
Cedric Agnew (26-0, 13 KOs) challenges Russian Sergey Kovalev (23-0, 21 KOs) for the WBO light heavyweight title on Saturday at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Saturday. The fight, scheduled for 12 rounds, will be aired on HBO.
Kovalev will enter the bout a heavy favorite. Agnew, 27, has more fights on his dossier but Kovalev, 30, has fought higher caliber opponents. And as his knockout percentage suggests, Kovalev has a huge advantage in punching power.
"I don't see myself as an underdog," Agnew said. "He's undefeated but so am I. I'm coming to this fight like I do each and every fight - looking to beat the man."
Agnew said he was not be intimidated by Kovalev's punching power despite his 91 percent knockout rate.
"I've fought guys with all kinds of power since the amateurs," Agnew said. "It doesn't bother me at all if you're strong."
A native of Chicago, Agnew relocated to Houston's Northside to train at the Main Boxing Gym in 2009. He became a regular fixture on the Texas fight scene but rarely received much worldwide exposure.
Kovalev, on the other hand, quickly captured the spotlight on the world stage courtesy of his propensity to render opponents horizontal. He won the title via fourth-round TKO over Nathan Cleverly of Wales last year.
"I don't feel no pressure and I'm taking it one day at a time and concentrating on this fight as just another fight," Agnew said.
Standing six feet tall, both boxers are the mirror images of each other, but are as different as fire and ice style wise. An aggressive boxer-puncher, Kovalev fights at a torrid pace using a busy jab to set up power punches. Agnew, by contrast, patiently counter punches from a defensive shell and is equally adept at fighting from a southpaw or right-handed stance.
"I'm going to win by using my brain and outthinking him," Agnew said. "The smarter fighter wins every time. I always find a way to win a fight."
In preparation for Kovalev, trainer Bobby Benton enlisted Medzhid Bektemirov (13-0, 10 KOs), Quantis Graves (9-0-1, 4 KOs) and Larry Pryor (7-9, 3 KOs) as sparring partners.
"They've emulated (Kovalev's) style like I wanted," Benton said.
Kovalev's vaunted power is overrated, Benton added, and Agnew, unlike Kovalev's previous opponents, will be unfazed by it.
"Everyone can punch," Benton said. "Cedric's not afraid of this guy. Everybody he's fought was scared to death before they stepped in the ring."
However, Cornelius White, who has traded punches with both fighters, describes Kovalev's power as "remarkable." A former sparring partner and stable-mate of Agnew, White (21-3, 16 KOs) was stopped in three rounds by Kovalev in June.
Nevertheless, White said Agnew has the style and skill set to defeat Kovalev as long as Agnew utilizes them strategically and avoids the same mistakes he made against the hard-hitting Russian.
"He pretty much just has to be Cedric," White said. "His defense is what's going to save him."
The longer the fight progresses, the better it will be for Agnew, White added, since Agnew has gone the 12-round distance twice before while Kovalev's longest fight lasted eight rounds.
"The first four to five rounds, he needs to be defensive - just jab and move and not be a stationary target like I was," White said.
A victory for Agnew would mark an end to a world title drought that has afflicted Houston since Juan Diaz lost his three lightweight belts in 2008. Junior middleweight Jermall Charlo (17-0, 13 KOs) was scheduled to fight for a world title earlier this month but the bout was cancelled after his opponent was arrested two days prior to fight night.
"When I win it's going to mean everything to me," Agnew said. "It's been a long time coming and I'd like everybody in the world to know who I am."
Exactly what I'm thinking, but I keep hoping someone will give Kovelov a good test.Quote:
Originally Posted by FinitoElDinamita
Live stream for the weigh-in:
MainEventsBoxing, Ustream.TV
On paper at least, the fight with Agnew is a mismatch. Kovalev has beat better fighters in Campillo, Sillakh and Cleverly. This was supposed to be a prelude to the fight with Stevenson. It's not a great match-up on its own. Now that Stevenson has decided he does not want to face Kovalev, Duva needs to secure another big fight like Pascal because it'll look poorly on Kovalev if he continues to face mid-level opponents. At this point in his career, he needs a stand-out win.
Every time I see your avatar, I just want to see the nips man.........Quote:
Originally Posted by FinitoElDinamita
Anyone think Kovalev can be seriously over looking Agnew and mental deflation with Stevenson fight gone?
Always possible, what I'm wondering if anyone has actually seen Agnew fight:confused:. If he's not really good it probably won't matter what Kovalev is looking towards. This card starts pretty soon I'm guessing, how many fights are televised other than the main event and Mayfield-Dulorme?
I'm watching an advert for Skil ratchet lock and thinking they look really useful, I could use a pair of them. I feel like a real man.
I think Kovalev is going to be pissed off and out to make a statement. I hope to see him feint another hip thrust.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spicoli
If anybody needs a stream, PM me.
So Mayfield and Dulorme were both fined 20% of their purses for that weigh in jazz. I'm sure that was well worth all the training, it's probably about the same amount they will end up with after all expenses:-X Much as I dislike those antics, you'd hope they were warned beforehand that could happen, somehow I doubt it. What a tough business:D
The mini William joppy lookalike being timed a bit.
He does look a lot like Joppy! Except apparently without the ability, he's looking pretty bad to me.
I think Virgil Hunter is overrated as a trainer
Fuck this fake homo thug act by mayfield. Only he should have been fined, not dulorme. U can't be sniffing another man up and down and shit man, that is crossing the line, its disgusting and shit like that deserves violent retaliation. Dulorme could have punched his throat and I wouldn't have fined him.
I hate it when fighters pull stunts like this during face offs. They need to keep their distance instead of rubbing their nose against each other and its always one fighter initiating all of it.
Fuckin getting all up close and shit sniffing another man and shit. Fuckin gay.
Typical ghetto trash move man I hope dulorme kills this guy.
2 zip Dulorme and losing 3rd.
Mayfield is just loading up, going for the home run punch
Dulorme better keep this up cuz this is exactly why I picked him to win.
Dulorme holding. He don't like Mayfield inside. He feeling his punches
3-2 Dulorme
I'm not sure why Dulorme isn't at least jabbing more, Mayfield is pretty much a target as long as he's staying at long range.
10 round fight. Mayfield needs to be more active
Mayfield might as well be trying to stand on one foot. His legs are jagged. Dudes just sloppy