BEVERLY HILLS, April 11, (THEWILL) – Efe Ajagba, the 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, has grabbed the headlines again in the heavyweight division with one of the most brutal, one-punch knockouts boxing has seen recently.
The 26-year-old, who as boxing amateur won Gold at the 2015 African Games and Bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games for Nigeria, was fighting for the second time since signing with Top Rank, which was also accompanied by a switch in trainer from Ronnie Shields to Kay Koroma in the greater Houston area.
He resumed his knockout ways against Brian Howard, a boxer with 15 wins, 11 of which were through technical knockouts (TKOs), and 5 losses, but who was fighting with a heavy heart as he was forced to bury his late mother earlier in the week.
The undefeated Ajagba folded Howard in half with a third round knockout that left the boxing world mouth agape. Ajagba appeared to fake going left and then came back with an overhead right to knock Howard straight to the canvas.
It was a fight that had gone back and fourth in the opening rounds with Ajagba earning his fair share of shots despite marching Howard down. But, Howard was not doing too badly either as the first and second rounds went by.
No one saw the end of the third round coming and it was all over in an instant such that if one blinked at the exact moment Ajagba’s right hook fell, the swing will be completely missed. It happened when Howard committed the cardinal sin of failing to keep his guard up, looking for a quick counter. Ajagba was unforgiving because Howard never got the chance to respond.
Ajagba’s right hand is simply scary. The power it packed is better appreciated when the punch is seen from the reverse angle. Upon contact with Howard’s jaw, the force of the blow produced the effect of spinning Howard’s head back 180 degrees before he collapsed, unmoving on the canvas.
In post-match comments, the Nigerian told ESPN: “It feels really good.
“I listened to the corner, they told me to start to the body and then go to the head. When I started with the jab to the body, it caused him to drop his hands. Then came the right hand.”
Ajagba made clear what his intentions for the heavyweight division are going forward: “I’m coming for the heavyweights. I’m going to be heavyweight champion of the world,” he said.
The Nigerian completely stole the show on a huge day of boxing that included Aussie star Ebanie Bridges’ brave world title fight defeat to Shannon Courtenay and Conor Benn’s 80-second thrashing of Samuel Vargas on the ESPN-televised card headlined by the Joe Smith and Maxim Vlasov showdown for the WBO Light Heavyweight World title.
In his current form, the undefeated heavyweight boxer is not far from the day he will be headlining cards of his own. And that is clearly where he is headed. Ajagba is showing the world what he is made of after winning the first 15 fights of his career.
He made his professional debut in 2017 and won via knockout in the first round. Of those 15 fights, Ajagba won 12 of them via TKOs. This was Ajagba’s first fight of 2021 after fighting twice in 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
