It’s official, Sena “The African Assassin” Agbeko (24-2, 19 KOs) and former WBO Inter-Continental Champion Apollo “Kidd” Thompson (19-4, 7 KOs) will square off on April 23 from the Abu Bekr Temple in Sioux City, Iowa.
Agbeko vs Thompson, an eight round super middleweight bout, will air live on FiteTV.
While still in Ghana, Sena earned titles as Ghanian’s world middleweight championship and West African super middleweight championship and with 19 devastating KOs, he is sure to create havoc.
Apollo “Kidd” Thompson had an extensive amateur career. His final record was 89-22 and along the way, he won New Jersey Golden Gloves six times. Thompson fought for a world title vs Liam Smith and was ahead on the cards till he got caught in the 7th round. Notable wins against fighters like Brandon Adams and Stanyslav Skorokhod have made him a real threat to worry about as he returns to the ring after a four-year hiatus.
“The decision to get into boxing was influenced by a lot of factors,” said Agbeko. “First, I always played sports in school, I played basketball, handball, ran cross country and later did field events like discuss and shot putt but the collegiate level in Ghana doesn’t offer sports and I felt like I needed to keep going with my sports ambitions. I had two options, soccer, or boxing so I went with boxing. Another factor was the influence of the great Azumah Nelson, one of the greatest fighters from Africa. I remember as kids, our parents would wake up at 3 or 4am in Ghana to catch his fights. It was inspiring and I wanted to do the things he did too. The final thing was watching the Ghana boxing team at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. I was inspired and wanted to win a medal for my country by competing. Though that was never realized, it definitely set me on by boxing path as I began training in the fall of 2008.”
“I actually believe that I’m a greatest boxer,” said Thompson. “If you don’t believe that you are the greatest boxer you shouldn’t be in this game. Once you start doubting yourself you have already lost. My plan is to become the best-that’s it. Once I achieve my goal then I’ll be impressed with myself. Then I’ll feel that I actually accomplishing something as far as right now I’m just stepping up in the brackets.”
The co-main event will feature heavyweight Istvan “The Hammer” Bernath (9-0, 7KOs). As an amateur, he won a silver medal in the super-heavyweight division at the 2008 EU Championships and at the 2009 EU Championships. Bernath will be tested against a wily veteran with knockout power of his own when he goes up against Milton Nunez (37-28-1, 32KOs).
Another notable fight on the card is Efrain Morales (7-1, 3KOs) vs Brent “Mr. Hollywood” Oren (4-8, 1KO).
–boxingscene.com
