Osleys Iglesias (right) added to his already-intimidating reputation with a second-round stoppage of Sena Agbeko on Aug. 17. (Photo by Vincent Ethier)
A year ago, Osleys Iglesias was an unknown Cuban fighter who lived in Germany. Those who did know him believed in his ability, but he hadn’t had the opportunity to step out of the shadows.
Fast-forward to today, and that is no longer the case. Iglesias signed with Montreal-based promoter Camille Estephan’s Eye of The Tiger earlier this year.
Iglesias has been kept active since then. He has fought three times in five months, unheard-of by today’s standards, and the results have been impressive, as has his meteoric rise. Iglesias (12-0, 11 knockouts) is now ranked No. 3 at super middleweight by The Ring and in the top 15 by two of the four sanctioning bodies. The 26-year-old southpaw also holds the lesser-regarded IBO title.
While some fighters show nerves in their debut, whether it be in the pros or with a new team, it has not been that way for Iglesias.
His EOTT kickoff came in March against Marcelo Coceres, a durable Argentine who gave then-WBO super middleweight titlist Billy Joe Saunders all kinds of problems and was ahead on one of the scorecards before getting knocked out in the 11th round.
Coceres had also shared a ring with handful of other top fighters – losing, yes, but giving all of them tough outings, including Edgar Berlanga (L UD 10), Erik Bazinyan (L UD 10), Meiirim Nursultanov (L UD 10) and rising force Diego Pacheco (L KO 9).
Iglesias needed just over two minutes to blow through Coceres, dropping and stopping him with a left hook.
“I felt satisfied with that performance,” he said. “I am 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 win led to a quick turnaround, and Iglesias was matched with once-beaten Evgeny Shvedenko in June. The tough Russian had been expected to put up stern resistance. He had only tasted defeat against William Scull in an IBF eliminator and took Scull the full 12 rounds.
This time, Iglesias brutalized Shvedenko with one of the most devastating first-round knockouts of this or any other year.
On l’appelle la Tornade
Le K.-O. au 1er round d’Osleys Iglesias sur Evgeny Shvedenko nous donne encore des frissons…
—
We call him the TornadoThe first round KO of Osleys Iglesias over Evgeny Shvedenko still give us chills…#ButlerVolny | #EottmArmy pic.twitter.com/i0HqeRu4E8
— Eye of the Tiger (@eottm_boxing) June 7, 2024
“I’m very happy that I was able to offer the fans in Canada two such spectacular knockouts,” he said. “Shvedenko is a good boxer with very good defense.
“I’m all the more pleased that the tactics I rehearsed with my coach, Georg Bramowski, worked out so well. You can’t force the knockout. I want to box well and then consistently exploit every gap in my opponent’s game.”
Agbeko had been stopped by David Morrell in two rounds last December, although the Ghanaian was still on his feet when the ref stepped in. It left little margin for error in terms of outdoing that, but that’s exactly what Iglesias did. He put Agbeko down in the opening round – the first knockdown he had suffered his career.
Así se vio y oyó desde ringside el KO de Osleys Iglesias a Sena Agbeko
@trboxeo #ESPNKnockOut #MbilliDerevyanchenko pic.twitter.com/ZM99x8dwne
— ESPN KnockOut (@ESPNKnockOut) August 18, 2024
While Agbeko made it out of the first round, it was a mere stay of execution and he was stopped in the second. The end came 27 seconds quicker, in fact, than it did against Morrell. Iglesias later said that wasn’t on his mind, but it certainly seemed to be. Message sent.
Watching those three fights, which have totaled four rounds of action, you can’t help but wonder how Eye of The Tiger will be able to secure future opponents for its fighter.
“It’s been difficult since the beginning,” said Estephan. “People know him. It’s very difficult to get opponents. You’ve got to get the dollars out, because it’s not a picnic.
“We want to fast-track him and put him in a position to be a mandatory, because he will never be invited.”
Iglesias-Agbeko took place on the undercard of the scrap between promotional stablemate Christian Mbilli vs. Sergiy Derevyanchenko. He won’t play second fiddle to anyone for long.
In fact, Iglesias is next tabbed to headline his own show in Montreal on November 7.
As well as activity playing a key roll in a fighter’s development, it also helps to keep them in the public’s mind.
You only need to think of Morrell. He previously looked sensational at super middleweight, but he’s been fighting just twice a year since debuting in 2019. So he’s never been able to build on that momentum.
Iglesias is hot, and he’ll try to keep things rolling. The question now is, who will answer the call to face him in the fall? There will be a very small queue of willing participants, that’s for sure.
Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at [email protected].
