WBA Interim Light Heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol (11-0, 9 KOs) continued to bolster his credentials as a potential future challenger to the Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev winner with an easy four-round TKO of former light heavyweight title challenger Cedric Agnew (29-3, 15 KOs) in a scheduled ten-round non-title bout on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
Bivol quickly established his superiority in the opening round, landing at will on Agnew. A left hook, straight right hand combination, followed by a flurry late in the round dropped Agnew, who got off the canvas but retreated into the corner and covered up into a defensive shell, which bought him enough time to survive the round. It just delayed the inevitable though, as Bivol stalked and pressed Agnew through two and a half more rounds before Agnew indicated to referee Russell Mora that he no longer wished to continue after taking a flurry of punches in the fourth round. Official time was 1:27 of the fourth round.
Bivol is the mandatory challenger to WBA Light Heavyweight titlist Nathan Cleverly, with Andre Ward holding “super champion” status in the same division prior to the main event.
