Efe Ajagba

Efe Ajagba (born 22 April 1994) is a Nigerian professional boxer who holds the record for the fastest victory in boxing history after his opponent was disqualified for leaving the ring one second after the opening bell. As an amateur, he won a gold medal at the 2015 African Games and bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Efe Ajagba
Statistics
Nickname(s)The Silent Roller
Weight(s)Heavyweight
Height1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Reach85 in (216 cm)
NationalityNigerian
Born (1994-04-22) 22 April 1994
Ughelli, Delta State, Nigeria
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights19
Wins18
Wins by KO13
Losses1
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing  Nigeria
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place2014 GlasgowSuper-heavyweight
African Games
Gold medal – first place2015 BrazzavilleSuper-heavyweight

Early life

Ajagba was born on 22 April 1994 in Ughelli, Delta State, Nigeria.[1] He formerly worked in a bakery.[2]

Amateur career

Ajagba took up the sport of boxing in 2011 after previously playing football for a club in Ughelli since 2005.[2] He was coached by Anthony Konyegwachie.[2]

Ajagba was selected to compete for the Nigerian team at the 2014 Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow. Competing in the super heavyweight division he defeated Junior Fa of Tonga in the round of 16 and Paul Schafer of South Africa in the quarterfinals.[1] He advanced to the semifinals where he was defeated by Joseph Goodall of Australia, meaning Ajagba won a bronze medal.[1][3]

At the 2015 African Games held in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, Ajagba was selected as the Nigerian entrant in the men's super heavyweight event. He won the gold medal, beating Keddy Angnes of the Seychelles by a score 3–0 in the final.[4][5][6]

In 2016 he won the gold medal in the super heavyweight event at the African Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Yaoundé, Cameroon. By doing so Ajagba qualified to represent Nigeria at the 2016 Summer Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[7] In the first round Ajagba beat Ugandan Michael Sekamembe on points,[8] he defeated Tunisian boxer Aymen Trabelsi in the semifinal to secure his qualification,[9] then in the final he beat Mohamed Arjaoui of Morocco.[10] Ajagba was the only Nigerian boxer of the ten who competed to qualify for Rio through the tournament, leading to claims from Nigeria's coach Konyegwachie that judges had been bribed.[11]

Professional career

After compiling a perfect record of 5–0, on 24 August 2018, Ajagba scored the fastest victory in boxing history in a match against Curtis Harper, winning in one second via disqualification after Harper walked out of the ring in protest over a pay dispute.[12][13]

After improving to 12–0, on 7 March 2020, Ajagba fought Răzvan Cojanu. In a one-sided fight, Ajagba dismantled his opponent round by round, and managed to score knockdowns in both the eighth and ninth rounds. In the ninth, Cojanu took a knee with 2:25 left in the round, and the referee decided to stop the fight.[14]

In his next fight, Ajagba made his Top Rank debut and fought Jonathan Rice on 19 September 2020. The fight ended up being less entertaining than expected, especially because Ajagba was not throwing a lot of punches. He did however, still do enough to hurt Rice and earn a unanimous decision victory.[15] Ajagba secured another victory in his 15th fight, knocking out Brian Howard in the third round on 10 April 2021.[16]

Ajagba faced off against undefeated Frank Sánchez on 9 October 2021 on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder III.[17] Ajagba was knocked down en route to a unanimous decision defeat, with scores of 98–91, 98–91 and 97–92 for Sánchez.[18]


On November 4, 2023 in Stateline, Nevada, Ajagba has been scheduled to face his old rival Joseph Goodall in a 10-round bout at heavyweight.[19]

Professional boxing record
19 fights 18 wins 1 loss
By knockout 13 0
By decision 3 1
By disqualification 2 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
19 Win 18–1 Zhan Kossobutskiy DQ 4 (10), 0:33 26 Aug 2023 Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. Won WBC International heavyweight title
18 Win 17–1 Stephan Shaw UD 10 14 Jan 2023 Turning Stone Resort Casino, Verona, California, US
17 Win 16–1 Jozsef Darmos TKO 2 (8), 1:15 27 Aug 2022 Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tulsa, Oklahoma, US
16 Loss 15–1 Frank Sánchez UD 10 9 Oct 2021 T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada, US For WBC Continental Americas and WBO-NABO heavyweight titles
15 Win 15–0 Brian Howard KO 3 (10), 1:29 10 Apr 2021 Osage Casino, Tulsa, Oklahoma, US
14 Win 14–0 Jonathan Rice UD 10 19 Sep 2020 MGM Grand Conference Center, Paradise, Nevada, US
13 Win 13–0 Răzvan Cojanu TKO 9 (10), 2:46 7 Mar 2020 Barclays Center, New York City, New York, US
12 Win 12–0 Iago Kiladze KO 5 (10), 2:09 21 Dec 2019 Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, US
11 Win 11–0 Ali Eren Demirezen UD 10 20 Jul 2019 MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, US
10 Win 10–0 Michael Wallisch TKO 2 (10), 1:40 27 Apr 2019 Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Paradise, Nevada, US
9 Win 9–0 Amir Mansour RTD 2 (8), 3:00 9 Mar 2019 Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, California, US
8 Win 8–0 Santino Turnbow TKO 1 (6), 2:22 22 Dec 2018 Barclays Center, New York City, New York, US
7 Win 7–0 Nick Jones KO 1 (6), 2:25 30 Sep 2018 Citizens Business Bank Arena, Ontario, California, US
6 Win 6–0 Curtis Harper DQ 1 (6), 0:01 24 Aug 2018 Minneapolis Armory, Minneapolis, Minnesota, US Harper was disqualified after leaving the ring
5 Win 5–0 Dell Long KO 1 (6), 0:35 26 May 2018 Beau Rivage Resort and Casino, Biloxi, Mississippi, US
4 Win 4–0 Antonio Johnson KO 1 (6), 1:14 10 Mar 2018 Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, Texas, US
3 Win 3–0 Rodney Hernandez TKO 5 (6), 1:31 4 Nov 2017 Barclays Center, New York City, New York, US
2 Win 2–0 Luke Lyons TKO 1 (6), 2:19 21 Oct 2017 Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey, US
1 Win 1–0 Tyrell Herndon KO 1 (6), 1:29 30 Jul 2017 Rabobank Theater, Bakersfield, California, US

References
  1. "Efe Ajagba Biography". Official website of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  2. "Ajagba: The baker who struck gold in Brazzaville". Punch Nigeria. Yohaig Online. 26 September 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  3. "Ajagba: I Wanted Football, But Boxing Gave Me Better Opportunities". Complete Sports Nigeria. 17 July 2015. Archived from the original on 29 May 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  4. "Four APB boxers win gold at the All Africa Games". AIBA. 13 September 2015. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  5. "African Games: Nigeria wins 4 gold, 2 silver medals in boxing". Premium Times. 13 September 2015. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  6. Bonnelame, Betymie (15 September 2015). "Seychelles clinches gold in ladies High Jump at the All Africa Games in Brazzaville". Seychelles News Agency. Archived from the original on 14 May 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  7. "Rio 2016: Ajagba only Nigerian boxer to book ticket". Vanguard Nigeria. 24 March 2016. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  8. Okosi, Izuchukwu (13 March 2013). "Africa Boxing Championship: Ajagba, Apochi Tipped For Olympic Glory". Complete Sports Nigeria. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  9. Agberebi, James (19 March 2016). "Nigeria's Ajagba Clinches Rio Olympics Boxing Spot". Complete Sports Nigeria. Archived from the original on 23 May 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  10. Agberebi, James (20 March 2016). "Boxing: Ajagba Wins Nigeria's Only African Gold As Linus Misses Olympics". Complete Sports Nigeria. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  11. Morgan, Liam (24 March 2016). "Exclusive: Claims of bribery at African Olympic Qualification Event by Nigerian coach dismissed as "unacceptable" by AIBA". insidethegames.biz. Archived from the original on 29 May 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  12. Reddy, Luke (25 August 2018). "Curtis Harper walks out of bout with Efe Ajagba in pay protest". BBC. Archived from the original on 25 September 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  13. "Ajagba vs Harper Full Fight: August 24, 2018 - PBC on FS1". YouTube. Archived from the original on 23 August 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  14. Christ, Scott (7 March 2020). "Efe Ajagba beats down Răzvan Cojanu in nine". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  15. Christ, Scott (20 September 2020). "Jose Pedraza routs Javier Molina, Efe Ajagba and Robeisy Ramirez win". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  16. Johns, Marquis (11 April 2021). "Efe Ajagba Blasts Out Howard In Three Saturday". Big Fight Weekend. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  17. Henschel, Jonathon (9 June 2021). "Helenius-Kownacki 2, Jared Anderson-Tereshkin added to Fury-Wilder 3 PPV on July 24th". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  18. "Frank Sanchez floors and outclasses Efe Ajagba in points win to stay on course for world heavyweight title shot". Sky Sports. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  19. Iskenderov, Parviz (30 September 2023). "Efe Ajagba vs Joseph Goodall date set for Nov 4 in Stateline, NV". FIGHTMAG.
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