LAS VEGAS – Bektemir Melikuziev is among the herd of super middleweights seeking to declare they are ready to supplant the retired Terence Crawford and injury-sidelined Saul “Canelo” Alvarez after their undisputed reigns.

Recording Saturday’s seventh-round TKO over Ghana’s Sena Agbeko is a step in the right direction.

Agbeko, 29-5 (23 KOs), first went down on a left planted flush to his face after being rocked by a combination. Action resumed only briefly, and when Melikuziev delivered another jarring left straight to the nose, the TKO was rewarded with two seconds remaining.

“I hope this is one more step closer to what I want: a championship fight,” Melikuziev, 17-1 (11 KOs), said. “I’m always ready for the best fights. I’m knocking on the door, I’m begging. And whoever wins that next WBA [title] fight, I get him.”

Melikuziev is the WBA’s second-ranked 168lbs fighter beneath titleholder Jose Armando Resendiz and former titlist Canelo Alvarez. Alvarez is pegged for a September WBC title fight in Saudi Arabia versus belt holder Christian Mbilli.

Resendiz is in negotiations with former title challenger Jaime Munguia, of Mexico, and fellow Premier Boxing Champions stablemate Jermall Charlo is also a possibility.

Melikuziev staggered Agbeko with lefts to the head in the third.

In the fourth, Melikuziev suffered a gash at the right eyebrow from the bout’s second clash of heads. He admitted the first clash – in the first round – dazed him until the fifth.

Melikuziev’s activity didn’t diminish, as he landed jabs and sent power lefts through the guard. Repeated combinations in the sixth had Agbeko on shaky legs as Melikuziev returned after only one fight last year.

“Very happy to be in the ring, very grateful to be in this position. I was prepared,” he said. 

Earlier, promising middleweight Amari Jones, a 23-year-old from Oakland, twice knocked down Luis Arias before Arias’ corner stopped the fight after four rounds, moving Jones to 16-0 (14 KOs).

Arias, who has fought the likes of former middleweight titleholder Daniel Jacobs, Erickson Lubin, Gabe Rosado and former unified 154lbs champion Jarrett Hurd, was backed by Jones’ body shots in the first round.

Jones is ranked No. 7 by the IBF and showed his class by first dropping Arias in the second round, ducking a power punch and pounding a power left to the jaw, raising promoter Oscasr De La Hoya from his ringside seat.  

Jones worked to set up his right in the fourth and battered the veteran Arias, landing one to the side of the head that again downed his opponent.

“I knew I was going to catch him,” Jones said. “I wanted to cement myself as a contender.”

Arias’ corner then waved the fight over seconds later as the punished fighter sat on his stool – only the second time he has been stopped.

Heavyweight Joshua Edwards, a 2024 U.S. Olympian, cruised to a unanimous decision victory, but saw his career-opening streak of knockouts stopped at five fights by Canada’s Brandon Colantonio in the card’s opener.

Edwards, who debuted in April, saw Colantonio avoid heavy engagement beyond a few landed rights as Edwards piled up all the rounds and won 60-54 on all three scorecards.

He was visited in his dressing room before the fight by former heavyweight title challenger Gerry Cooney, who said he reminded the Houston product to “move his head” and stay loose heading to the bout.

Edwards did sideswipe a few heavy Colantonio attempts, saying he regretted not unleashing his hand movement.

“Go right at him, get it over with,” Edwards said when asked what he learned.

Saudi Arabia junior lightweight Mohammed Alakel stopped David Calabro at 2:27 of the second round to improve to 8-0.

Trained by Abel Sanchez, Alakel set up an earlier second-round knockdown with a body shot that led to a combination. After Calabro hit the deck, a finishing left to the rib cage saw him crash for good.

“Feeling more comfortable every time I step in the ring,” Alakel said. “Staying active will help me reach the top. [Sanchez] is the best in the business.”

Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.