Sena Agbeko upsets Isaiah Steen in 10-round unanimous decision

Sena “The African Assassin” Agbeko rose to the occasion, scoring a career-defining upset win over previously undefeated top prospect Isaiah Steen in the 10-round super middleweight main event of a SHOBOX: The New Generation telecast from Bally’s Atlantic City Casino & Resort, site of the first ever SHOBOX more than 21 years ago.

Agbeko (27-2, 21 KOs), who entered the fight claiming he was one of the best 168-pounders in the world and just needed the stage to prove it, capitalized on the opportunity to score the biggest win of his career. He won by convincing scores of 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94.

After winning the first three rounds on all three judges’ scorecards, Agbeko built a lead that he would never surrender. While SHOBOX’s Hall of Fame unofficial scorer Steve Farhood had the fight even at 95-95 on his card, the judges favored Agbeko’s aggression and power punching to Steen’s jabs. Despite taking the fight on less than three weeks’ notice, Agbeko never slowed and won the final two rounds on all three judges’ cards. Overall, Abgeko out-landed Steen 75-73 and held a 45-18 advantage in power punches.

Steen (16-1, 12 KOs), a promising prospect out of Cleveland, missed out on an opportunity to slingshot himself up the super middleweight rankings. Still, he thought he did more than enough to win the fight.

“The scoring was messed up, for real,” said Steen, the half-brother of 2016 U.S. Olympian and SHOBOX alum Charles Conwell. “He wasn’t going to touch me. I was throwing more jabs, connecting and landing more shots. I don’t see what the judges saw, but I definitely won that fight. They were scoring his blocks. His big punches were blocks and weren’t landing. When they said 98-92 I thought that was my score. He wasn’t touching me.”