Former All Africa Games boxing gold medalist, Efe Ajagba survived an early scare in his bout with Georgia’s Iago Kiladze to earn a dramatic fifth-round knock-out of his opponent at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California, USA, megasportsarena.com reports.
After getting off the canvas to regain composure in the third round, Ajagba dropped Kiladze twice, first in the second round and then in the fifth, before the fight was called off by the referee.
A powerful right hand from Ajagba had wobbled Kiladze badly in the final minute of the third and the Nigerian backed away thinking his opponent would go down, but Kiladze remained on his feet and landed a punch with his right hand.
That was a shock for Ajagba and, for the first time in his professional boxing career, the 2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist went down, but he managed to beat the count by the referee, Thomas Taylor.
The 6-foot-6 Nigerian (12-0, 10 KOs) then put Kiladze (26-5-1, 16 KOs) down in the second round and again in the third, then midway through Round 5.
Though Kiladze was clearly dazed, he refused to quit, and Ajagba must have been thinking what he would have to get rid of the tough nut, but his efforts finally paid off with another sucker punch that produced another knock down did the Georgian’s corner had to stop the fight.
It meant the 25-year-old Ajagba, a 2016 Olympian in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, now has a 12-fight winning run with 10 knock-outs, adding to his glory run as an amateur when he won a gold medal at the 2015 African Games and bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
