Bektemir Melikuziev vs Sena Agbeko Preview Feb. 21St, 2026
Bektemir Melikuziev of Uzbekistan takes on Sena Agbeko of Accra, Ghana in a 10-round super middleweight bout this Saturday, February 21st. The fight from Las Vegas, Nevada can be seen live on DAZN pay-per-view in most nations on the undercard of the Mario Barrios vs Ryan Garcia battle. Melikuziev last boxed in May when he beat Darius Fulghum by a close 12-round unanimous decision. The scores were 114-112 across the board as Melikuziev was deducted one point for holding in the seventh round and he dropped Fulghum in the 12th. In his previous outing, Melikuziev edged David Stevens via a 12-round split decision. Agbeko was last in action in November, 2024 when he halted Pierre Williams in just 29 seconds.
Melikuziev vs Agbeko Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Sena Agbeko +1200
- Bektemir Melikuziev -3300
My Pick
The 29-year-old Melikuziev, who now fights out of Indio, California, is a southpaw who enters the ring with an impressive record of 16-1 with 10 Ko’s with his lone loss coming to Gabriel Rosado by third-round KO in April, 2023. He stopped Alantez Fox in the fourth round to retain his WBA Inter-Continental Super Middleweight Title in 2023 after winning the vacant belt six months earlier with a 10-round unanimous decision over Gabriel Rosado in their rematch. Rosado won their first meeting in 2021 by a sensational third-round knockout for the vacant WBO International Super Middleweight Crown and he’s now riding a nine-fight winning streak.
Melikuziev stands just over 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 70.5-inch reach, made his pro debut in 2019 and has fought just 88 rounds since. He enjoyed a fine amateur career and made it to the final of the 2015 AIBA World Championships and to the semifinals in 2017. He also fought in the World Series of Boxing, won a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil as a middleweight, won gold at the 2015 and 2017 Asian Championships as a middleweight and light-heavyweight respectively and took gold at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games as a welterweight.
There’s pretty good power in Melikuziev’s fists as 62.5 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage but he’s stopped just one of his past five opponents. Since turning pro he’s also won the vacant WBO Global Super Middleweight Title. His biggest wins have come against Fulghum, Stevens, Pierre Hubert Dibombe, Fox, Rosado, Ulises Sierra, Clay Collard, Vaughn Alexander, Oscar Cortes, Alan Campa, David Zegarra and Sergei Ekimov.
As for Agbeko, he’s now 34 years old and fights out of Nashville, Tennessee. He enters the contest with a mark of 29-4 with 23 Ko’s and has boxed 138 rounds since making his pro debut in 2011. He measures 6-feet tall with a 74.5-inch wingspan so is 2.5-inches taller than Melikuziev and also has a four-inch edge in reach. Agbeko also has better-than-average power as 79.3 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage, including five of his past six. However he’s lost two of his last three fights. Agbeko’s first defeat came at the hands of Raymond Gatica by fourth-round TKO in 2014.
His second loss came via a 10-round unanimous decision to Vladimir Shishkin in February, 2021. He then won five fights in a row before being stopped by David Morrell in the second round in 2023. Agbeko was stopped again in the second round in his next outing in 2024 when Osleys Iglesias halted him. Agbeko stopped Winfred Harris Jr in the ninth round in 2022 for the vacant WBC USA Super Middleweight Title. And earlier in his career, he captured the vacant West African Boxing Union West Super Middleweight Title and the vacant Ghana Boxing Authority Middleweight Belt.
The first 15 of Agbeko’s fights came in his homeland before moving to America and just two of those opponents entered the ring with a winning record. In fact, just nine of his next 16 opponents had winning records too, meaning just 11 of his first 30 opponents stepped into the ring as winners. He stepped upm in class against Morrell and Iglesias and didn’t fare too well. Agbeko’s biggest wins have been against George Amuzu, Shannon Miller, Brad Austin, Brian Vera and Isaiah Steen.
Prediction…
Melikuziev is nicknamed the bully as that’s exactly what he does to his opponents in the ring. Agbeko has some power of his own but he’s nearing the end of his career and his punch resistance is on the weak side. Melikuziev likes to apply pressure by letting his hands go and is quite aggressive by always coming forward. He has a good chin even though he got nailed with a perfect KO shot by Gabriel Rosado. Agbeko is taking a step up in class again this weekend and while he has a puncher’s chance I think Melikuziev’s relentlessness will prove to be a bit too much for him and will eventually stop him.
Melikuziev’s natural aggression should result in a stoppage.
Play: Melikuziev -3300 @ BetOnline.ag
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Bektemir Melikuziev betting • Sena Agbeko betting