Former International Boxing Federation (IBF) bantamweight champion Joseph Agbeko says he believes Richard Commey and Emmanuel ‘Gameboy’ Tagoe must earn mandatory slots to be able to get a chance at fighting for a world championship.

Agbeko, who defeated Luis Alberto Perez to become champion in 2007, explained that Commey and Tagoe would be avoided by their opponents in the lightweight division because of their dangerous nature.

Tagoe is expected to make a long awaited return to the ring against Mason Menard on November 27 while Commey waits on his next fight since losing his IBF lightweight belt to Teofimo Lopez last December.

In an interview with the Graphic Sports, Agbeko said his compatriots had a lot of work to do in order to stay relevant at lightweight.

“The lightweight division is the most attractive in the world now because of the kind of fighters there at the moment. You have over five dangerous contenders aside Commey and Tagoe and that puts them in a very difficult situation. They have whatever it takes to win the world championship because Commey has done it before but I suspect their opponents will avoid fighting them. I believe they need to make themselves mandatory challengers for the belts,” Agbeko said.

The lightweight division remains the hottest in the world at the moment. While Lopez holds the IBF, WBA and the WBO world titles, the likes of Vasyl Lomachenko, Devin Haney, Ryan Garcia, George Kambosos Jnr, Lee Selby and Luke Campbell are all top contenders in the lightweight division.

With all these fighters, Agbeko expects Commey and Tagoe to take up any opportunity that comes their way by beating their contenders when the need arises.

That, he said, would give his countrymen mandatory shots at the world title instead of waiting on title holders to offer them an opportunity.

“You always have to take any opportunity that comes your way if you want to be a champion. I foresee the other contenders trying to avoid them because they wouldn’t want to lose their belts as well as not make enough money.

“They will prefer to fight each other because they are well marketed in the US. That will be their focus for now,” Agbeko said.

Commey is yet to return to the ring since his knockout defeat to Lopez in over 10 months. Tagoe on the other hand last fought in July 2019 and will have a tune up fight against Menard on his return.