By Ian S Palmer
The WBO Light Heavyweight Title will be on the line this Saturday, March 29 when champion Sergey Kovalev of Russia takes on undefeated Cedric Agnew of Chicago at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. The 12-round bout can be seen in Canada and the U.S. on the HBO network. The 27-year-old Agnew has an impressive record of 26-0 along with 13 Kos while the 30-year-old Kovalev will enter the ring with a mark of 23-0-1 with 21 Kos to his name.
The challenger, who is the current USBA Heavyweight champion, stands 6-feet tall and has decent power, but Kovalev, who’s half-an-inch taller, is regarded as one of the heaviest hitters in the sport at the moment. Agnew had a fine amateur career as he was a two-time Golden Gloves winner in Chicago and a National runner-up. He’s a slick boxer with pretty good speed, but he’s also going to have to possess a solid chin to be successful here. The problem is he doesn’t have much power of his own to keep the champion off of him.
Even if Agnew does manager to land a solid shot flush on the jaw of Kovalev, the champion has a granite chin and is unlikely to flinch. Therefore, this bout will be seen by many as an easy win for Kovalev. However, it’s not always that simple in boxing. Some fighters come into the ring overconfident and others simply have an off night when nothing seems to go right for them. There’s also the possibility that Agnew has the fight of his life and manages to outbox the Russian slugger.
Agnew should at least give Kovalev some experience against a talented boxer and that should come in hand down the road for the champ of he ever takes on the likes of Andre Ward or Bernard Hopkins. So far during his pro career Kovalev hasn’t had to go past eight rounds in any bout. His knockout percentage stands at an excellent 91 per cent and that’s basically how he ends his bouts.
However, Kovalev is also a smart boxer with good mobility. He’s flexible and agile in the ring and always seems to be in the right position. He’s always in top condition, so shouldn’t have a problem if this contest goes into the later rounds. On the other side of the coin, Agnew has gone 10 rounds once and the full 12 rounds on two occasions. But he simply hasn’t fought anybody on Kovalev’s level and this is going to be a huge step up in class for him.
Kovalev has to make sure he doesn’t take Agnew’s challenge too lightly. This is a bull and matador-style matchup and Kovalev usually goes out with one thing on his mind, which is to stop his opponent. This could turn into a problem though if the slick-boxing Agnew can take a punch and is hard to hit. Kovalev could become frustrated and end up chasing Agnew around the ring looking to land the big punch. Kovalev’s too smart and talented to lose his focus though and that’s why he’s likely to put an end to Agnew’s challenge somewhere in the mid to late rounds.
