By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten heavyweight prospect Efe Ajagba of Nigeria will be taking on undefeated Frank Sanchez of Cuba in a 10-round tilt this Saturday, Oct. 9th. The fight from Las Vegas is on the undercard of the Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder clash and can be seen live in North America on Pay-Per-View and on BT Sport Box Office in the UK. Ajagba last fought in April when he stopped Brian Howard in the third round while Sanchez beat Nagy Aguilera by a six-round technical decision in May to retain the WBC Continental Americas Heavyweight Title.
The 27-year-old Ajagba is a young, hard-hitting prospect who now fights out of Stafford, Texas. He climbs through the ropes with a perfect record of 15-0 with 12 big Kos. He’s obviously got good power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 80 per cent. He’s also got plenty of size as he stands 6-feet-6-inches tall with an 85-inch reach. Ajagba enjoyed a fine amateur career and made it to the quarterfinal of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in the super heavyweight division.
He also won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland in 2014. Ajagba turned pro in 2017 a year after the Olympics and has been pretty busy ever since. He’s fought 15 times but has boxed only 53 pro rounds due to his exceptional power. He’s been the distance just twice as Ali Eren Demirezen took him 10 rounds in July, 2019 and Jonathan Rice went 10 rounds in 2020. The only other man he failed to stop was Curtis Harper in 2018 when Harper was disqualified after walking out of the ring before the opening bell.
Ajagba’s only other recognizable opponents up to now have been Michael Wallicsh, Iago Kiladze Razvan Cojanu and Amir Mansour, whose corner stopped the fight after the second round in March, 2019. But while he hasn’t fought any top rate opponents as of yet, at least each one of his foes entered the ring with a winning record. Ajagba’s chin hasn’t really been tested but it should be noted that Kiladze decked him in the third round in December, 2019 before being stopped in the fifth, so the jury’s still out on how well he can take a punch.
The 29-year-old Sanchez, who fights out of Miami, Florida, also boasts a perfect record as he’s 18-0 with 13 Kos. He’s got 69 rounds worth of experience under his belt since making his pro debut in 2017. He also enjoyed a fine amateur career as he won the 2008 Cuban National School Games at 165 lbs and finished third at the Cuban National Championships from 2011 to 2014. He then fought in the world Series of Boxing in 2016.
Sanchez stands 6-feet-4-inches tall with a 78-inch wingspan which sees him give up an inch in reach to Ajagba as well as seven inches in reach. He has better-than-average power with a current knockout ratio of 68.4 per cent. His biggest wins so far have been against Aguilera, Howard, Joey Dawejko and Julian Fernandez. Since turning pro, Sanchez has also captured the vacant WBO NABO Heavyweight Title.
Prediction…
Sanchez seems to have all the tools to become a legitimate heavyweight contender but doesn’t use them often enough during a fight. He can bore you to tears for several rounds and then explode with a power punch or two and Ajagba will need to be wary of this. If Ajagba uses his size advantage and stays bust each round I think he can leave the ring with a win. This is a close matchup though so it can go either way with a draw a possibility. I give Ajagba the slight edge though, especially if he can handle Sanchez’s power.
