Efe Ajagba returned to winning ways Sunday, Feb. 15 atop a Zuffa Boxing card at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, as he stopped Charles Martin in the fourth round.
The 31-year-old was arguably unfortunate to not have left the ANB Arena in Riyadh last year with the dub as judges scored his Martin Bakole bout as a majority draw, but ‘The Silent Roller’ made some noise with a knockout win, overcoming a sluggish start to convincingly club Martin into submission.
Ajagba has scored solid wins before, notably against the likes of Guido Vianello, and was expected to defeat Martin, who now has three losses in his last five appearances.
The beginning of the end came in the third, when, unfazed by his opponent’s fencing, Ajagba closed the distance while unfurling a shovel hook-straight right two-shot combination to put Martin on his butt, after he ricocheted off the ropes.
Martin beat the eight-count and survived the round but was foiled for good in the fourth, when Ajagba countered the American with a one-two, a combo which contained significant pop on the two, before cracking a left hook around his guard to further command the referee’s attention.
Official Thomas Taylor allowed the fight to go on, but not for long, as three more shots — including two uppercuts and a left — forced the ref to intervene and wave it all off. It was over.
Watch it right here:
Victory advanced the Nigerian’s pro record to 21 (15 KOs) against one defeat and one draw.
But his thumping win wasn’t the only knockout of the night, and was second-best, really, to the thunderous finish Umar Dzambekov scored in the second round of his light heavyweight fight against Ahmed Elbiali.
A 360 Promotions fighter under Tom Loeffler’s guidance, southpaw 175-pounder Dzambekov has developed steadily on the SoCal circuit but the stoppage of Elbiali is his biggest statement yet.
With a violent whip of his left fist, which he threw from knee-level and used extraordinary leverage to crack the uppercut on his opponent’s chin, Elbiali collapsed in an instant, falling stiff on his back, and, with his left foot twitching and his eyes wide open, it was clear he was concussed, in bad shape, and in no fit state to continue.
Dzambekov’s knockout is perhaps the nastiest in Zuffa’s infancy, and you can watch it below.
Zuffa Boxing returns with its fourth event Mar. 8 with big-name signing Jai Opetaia and opponent Brandon Glanton fighting for the inaugural Zuffa cruiserweight title at the Meta Apex in Vegas.