Efe Ajagba (born 22 April 1994) is a Nigerian

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

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 The 11th African Games took place from September 4–19, 2015 in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. This edition marked the 50th anniversary of the Games, as well as their return to Brazzaville, which hosted the first edition in 1965. Host aw ...

and bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Early life

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

Amateur career

Ajagba took up the sport of boxing in 2011 after previously playing football for a club in Ughelli since 2005. He was coached by Anthony Konyegwachie. Ajagba was selected to compete for the Nigerian team at the 2014 Commonwealth Games held in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. Competing in the super heavyweight division he defeated

Junior Fa Uaine Fa Junior (born 19 October 1989) is a New Zealand professional boxer. As an amateur he represented Tonga at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, winning a bronze medal in the super-heavyweight division; he also represented Tonga at the Oceania Ch ...

of Tonga in the round of 16 and Paul Schafer of South Africa in the quarterfinals. He advanced to the semifinals where he was defeated by Joseph Goodall of Australia, meaning Ajagba won a bronze medal. At the

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. In 2016 he won the gold medal in the super heavyweight event at the African Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament held in

Yaoundé Yaoundé (; , ) is the capital of Cameroon and, with a population of more than 2.8 million, the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region of the nation at an elevation of about 750 metres (2,50 ...

, Cameroon. By doing so Ajagba qualified to represent

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

at the 2016 Summer Olympics to be held in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

, Brazil. In the first round Ajagba beat Ugandan Michael Sekamembe on points, he defeated Tunisian boxer Aymen Trabelsi in the semifinal to secure his qualification, then in the final he beat

Mohamed Arjaoui Mohamed Al-Arjaoui ( ar, محمد العرجاوي, born 6 June 1987) is a Moroccan heavyweight amateur boxer who won the African Championships in 2015. He competed at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clock ...

of Morocco. 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.

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. After improving to 12–0, on 7 March 2020, Ajagba fought Razvan 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. In his next fight, Ajagba made his

Top Rank Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including Muh ...

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. Ajagba secured another victory in his 15th fight, knocking out Brian Howard in the third round on 10 April 2021. Ajagba faced off against undefeated Frank Sánchez on 9 October 2021 on the undercard of

Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder III Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder III (billed as "Once And For All") was a professional boxing trilogy fight between WBC and ''The Ring'' heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, and former WBC heavyweight champion, Deontay Wilder. The bout took place ...

. Ajagba was knocked down en route to a unanimous decision defeat, with scores of 98–91, 98–91 and 97–92 for Sánchez.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

Efe Ajagba - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
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Box.Live
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ajagba, Efe Living people 1994 births Nigerian male boxers Boxers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Nigeria Boxers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers of Nigeria Commonwealth Games medallists in boxing African Games gold medalists for Nigeria African Games medalists in boxing Sportspeople from Delta State Competitors at the 2015 African Games Heavyweight boxers