Sena Agbeko plans on moving down to middleweight

Just a week after suffering a one-sided second round TKO loss to Osleys Iglesias, Sena Agbeko thinks moving down to middleweight is the best way to go.

Ghana’s Agbeko, 32, who fights out of Nashville, Tennessee, was taken care of by Iglesias of Cuba in two rounds during a super middleweight contest on the undercard of the Christian Mbilli-Sergiy Derevyanchenko bout at Centre Videotron in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada last Saturday.

Agbeko (28-4, 22 KOs) admits the 168-pound division has been a struggle for him despite giving off his best in the division.

“It was a good fight. I prepared as best as I could, and I just fell short,” Agbeko told BoxingScene. “And, definitely as a result of that, I think that in the super middleweight division, the guys there are a little too big for me. So, I’ve made the decision that I’m going to start campaigning at 160 pounds.”

The Ghanaian has been competing at super middleweight for most of his career despite having short stints at middleweight and light-heavyweight. Agbeko lost his last two super middleweight fights against David Morrell and Iglesias – who are both of Cuba origin. Morrell had dispatched Agbeko in two rounds to retain his WBA secondary super middleweight title last December. On his return, Iglesias made it two consecutive stoppage defeats.

According to the free-agent Agbeko, he’s working on fighting at 160 by the close of the year.

“That’s my decision going forward and I plan on having a fight hopefully before the year ends or, very early next year at my new weight.”

Agbeko’s dream had always been to win a world title but he missed that opportunity against Morrell a year ago. When asked if he thinks moving down to 160 can help him become a champion, Agbeko said: “There are many instances in history where a lot of fighters that have lost come back to win titles. And mind you, these two fights that I just had, they were not easy fights.

“I feel like I could compete at the lower weight class. So that’s what I’m gonna try to do now by campaigning at 160 and we’ll see where that goes. If it ends well, then it was a great decision.”

To Agbeko, it would be appropriate to call it quits from boxing if he fails to make any meaningful impact at middleweight.

“If not, well, then we just pack shop and retire. So that’s where I am right now. I mean, like I said, the goal is to try to go for the championship and right now, my management team and I are focused on, going down to 160 and making a run on 160. So that is the plan and then until we’ve explored that option, we don’t really know. 

“So, I guess I’ll have a good answer for you after one or two fights.”

Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at [email protected].