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Sports News of Friday, 21 April 2023

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Why Sena Agbeko’s WBA title fight against David Morrell was cancelled

Boxer, Sena Agbeko Boxer, Sena Agbeko

Ghanaian middleweight boxer, Sena Agbeko, has had his upcoming fight against David Morrell Jr. cancelled, just days before the event.

Agbeko was set to face Morrell Jr. on April 22nd, in a twelve-round fight for the WBA Super Middleweight title.

The bout was scheduled to take place as an undercard of Gervonta Davis' highly anticipated fight against Ryan Garcia.

According to reports, Agbeko was unable to pass his medical exams and was therefore deemed unfit to fight. As a result, the commission refused to issue him a license to compete.

However, Agbeko claims that these reports were fabricated by his opponent's camp, which wanted to go up against a weaker contender.

In a statement, Agbeko said, "Even before we received the first MRI scan, my opponent's team were already out on social media claiming I had failed my neurological tests when no doctor had stated that.

"They are going with an easier, lesser-ranked opponent on short notice because they received reports on how well I was doing and how much of a threat I could be, and they couldn’t afford getting their plans derailed. I’m just collateral damage in their big old game," portions of Agbeko's statement read.

Agbeko was looking to make a name for himself on the biggest stage in boxing following his win against Isiah Steen last October.

It is unclear whether he will be given another opportunity to compete for the WBA title in the near future.


Read the full statement below

This is the full story behind the refusal of the commission to issue my license. First off, let me state as a matter of fact that I did not fail any medical tests and neither of the two doctors who reviewed my MRI scans said I couldn’t fight.

The above picture is the analysis of my MRI by Dr. Michael Seiff, a neurosurgeon who’s been practicing for over 35yrs. He very CLEARLY states at the end of his statement that I’ve been cleared to proceed with my fight.

The commission and its doctors said they needed a second opinion based on the imaging results they received and the expert who’s been doing this for over 35yrs assured them he didn’t see anything and that I was cleared to fight and they still didn’t approve me.

Apparently by that time, my opponents team had already been talking to the new opponent because they knew they didn’t want to fight me at that point. Even before we received the first MRI scan, my opponents team were already out on social media claiming I had failed my neurological tests when no doctor had stated that.

Not ever and that they had access to my records, a violation of HIPPA laws. It’s clear this was already orchestrated behind the scenes and Morrell and his team are hiding behind the Nevada State Athletic Commission to pull off this stunt.

They are going with an easier, lesser ranked opponent on short notice because they received reports on how well I was doing and how much of a threat I could be and they couldn’t afford getting their plans derailed. I’m just collateral damage in their big old game.

READ THE NEUROSURGEONS REPORT AND DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT THE COMMISSION WAS RIGHT.

A doctor who DOESNT know me from Adam won’t put his license and career and livelihood on the line by stating something that wasn’t true. They couldn’t use my physical nor my blood work nor my eye tests because those are definitive.

They tried to use my MRI scan which is more open to interpretation but still failed because the expert disagreed but they strong armed me and went ahead with their plan anyway.

LET IT BE KNOWN NOW THAT THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH ME AND MY TEAM AND I WILL SEEK ALL MEANS TO FIND A SUITABLE RESOLUTION TO THIS INJUSTICE.
JNA/KPE