If consistent excellence over an extended period is the defining mark of a great athlete, Efe Ajagba has earned the right to be regarded as Nigeria’s leading boxer of contemporary times. The 31-year-old Nigerian-born and bred boxer laid another brick toward that status last Sunday, February 15, by sending former IBF heavyweight title holder to the canvas after four rounds at Zuffa Boxing 03 Meta APEX.

It was a well-calculated technical knockout by Ajagba, who, instead of going all in early, soaked up the expected pressure from Martin in the opening minutes as both boxers exchanged blows, with Ajagba landing the harder right hands. The American looked sharper in the second round, landing multiple fast lefts, before Ajagba floored him with a devastating right hand in the third. The former IBF champion’s resistance crumbled early in the fourth when three consecutive right hands sent him crashing to the canvas just 23 seconds into the round. Ajagba then pressed the advantage, knocking his opponent down twice more to secure a convincing stoppage victory that reinforced his growing reputation in the division.

He did just as he had assured The Ring prior to the bout.“I’m gonna knock him out,” the 2016 Olympian said. “Charles Martin doesn’t like to put his hands up. But I don’t care. If he picks his hands up, it doesn’t matter to me. I’ll just touch him, touch him, touch him, touch him.”

“He doesn’t have anything to bring to me. He doesn’t have any chance. Even though he fought Anthony Joshua, Luis Ortiz, and Jared Anderson, I was not impressed at all. Everybody says Charles Martin is the former IBF world champion. Good for him, but I don’t care.”

For anyone who has been paying attention, Ajagba has been on quite an impressive run in his professional career. Across 23 bouts, he has 21 wins, including 15 knockouts, one draw, and a lone defeat, which came against Frank Sánchez in October 2021 on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder III. The 2016 Nigerian Olympian is currently the highest-ranked African in the Official Heavyweight Boxing Rankings at number six, two places ahead of British-Slovak-Nigerian rising prospect Moses Itauma, who sits ninth. Conspicuously absent from the top 30 is Anthony Joshua, whose last outing against YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul drew more spectacle than competitive relevance. 

For Ajagba, the momentum and relevance are already in place. The next point of call is eliminating all doubts through his choice of opponents. No one understands this more than he does, and he has made that ambition clear.

“I’m ready for everyone in the top 10,” the Nigerian declared after his latest victory. “Nobody’s mentioning my name. Nobody’s calling my name. I’m in the top 10 and ready to go. I want to fight the top 10, the top five.”

If those fights materialise and he delivers as he believes he will, Ajagba will be cemented as the heavyweight standard-bearer Nigeria has long awaited.