Osleys Iglesias (right) further cemented his already formidable reputation by knocking out Sena Agbeko in the second round on Aug. 17. (Photo by Vincent Ethier)
A year ago, Osleys Iglesias was an unknown Cuban fighter living in Germany. Those who knew him believed in his skills, but he never had the chance to step out of the shadows.
Speedy forward to today, and that’s no longer the case. Iglesias signed with Montreal promoter Camille Estephan’s Eye of The Tiger earlier this year.
Iglesias has been busy ever since. He has fought three times in five months, which is unheard of by today’s standards, and the results have been impressive, as has his meteoric rise. Iglesias (12-0, 11 knockouts) is currently ranked No. 3 in the super middleweight division by The Ring and in the top 15 by two of the four sanctioning bodies. The 26-year-old left-hander also holds the lesser-esteemed IBO title.
While some players are nervous on their debut, whether they are playing professionally or with a fresh team, it wasn’t that bad for Iglesias.
The EOTT kicked off in March with a fight against Marcelo Coceres, the robust Argentine who gave then-WBO super middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders plenty of trouble and was leading one of the scorecards before being knocked out in the 11th round.
Coceres has shared the ring with several other top fighters – losing, yes, but giving all of them tough challenges, including Edgar Berlanga (L UD 10), Erik Bazinyan (L UD 10), Meiirim Nursultanov (L UD 10) and rising powerhouse Diego Pacheco (L KO 9).
It took Iglesias a little over two minutes to take down Coceres, take him down and stop him with a left hook.
“I was joyful with the performance,” he said. “I’m the boxer who was the fastest [to stop him] in his professional career. [He has been] in good fights and almost knocked out Berlanga.”
The nature of the victory led to a quick turnaround, and Iglesias was matched up with the once-beaten Evgeny Shvedenko in June. The tough Russian was expected to put up a fierce fight. He had only suffered a loss to William Scull in an IBF eliminator and defeated Scull in the full 12 rounds.
This time, Iglesias knocked out Shvedenko with one of the most devastating first-round knockouts of the year so far.
“I am very joyful that I could offer the fans in Canada two such spectacular knockouts,” he said. “Shvedenko is a good boxer with a very good defense.
“I am all the more pleased that the tactics I practiced with my trainer, Georg Bramowski, worked so well. You can’t force a knockout. I want to box well and then consistently exploit every gap in my opponent’s game.”
Agbeko was stopped by David Morrell in two rounds last December, although the Ghanaian was still on his feet when the referee stepped in. That left little margin for error in terms of getting him over the line, but that’s exactly what Iglesias did. He floored Agbeko in the first round – the first knockdown he’d suffered in his career.
Although Agbeko made it out of the first round, it was only a stay of execution and he was stopped in the second. The end came 27 seconds quicker, in fact, than in the Morrell fight. Iglesias later said he didn’t mean it, but it certainly seemed that way. Message sent.
Watching these three fights, which totaled four rounds, one cannot support but wonder how Eye of The Tiger will be able to provide his fighter with future opponents.
“It was tough from the get-go,” Estephan said. “People know him. It’s very tough to get opponents. You have to get the dollars out because it’s no picnic.
“We want to speed up his process and give him a mandatory position because he will never be invited.”
Iglesias-Agbeko took place on the undercard of a fight between fellow promotion member Christian Mbilli and Sergiy Derevyanchenko. He won’t be playing second fiddle for long.
The next event Iglesias will headline with his show will be a performance in Montreal on November 7.
Activity not only plays a key role in an athlete’s development, but also helps keep them in the public eye.
Just think about Morrell. He looked sensational at super middleweight before, but he’s only fought twice a year since his 2019 debut, so he’s never been able to capitalize on that momentum.
Iglesias is warm and will try to keep the momentum going. The question is, who will answer the call to face him in the fall? There will be a very compact waiting list, that’s for sure.
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