Nigeria’s highly-promising professional boxer, Efe Ajagba has declared that he has everything it takes for him to become heavyweight champion of the world, but pointed out that he is not in a rush to take the plunge.
Sports247 reports that, rather than call out the duo of Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois, who currently share world boxing’s top belts between them, Ajagba said he is for now thinking only of his fight with Martin Bakole on Saturday night.
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Both boxers will go toe-to-toe in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for a long-awaited bout that was called off earlier this year, and Ajagba admitted he is glad to finally step into the roped square with the 21-2, 16KOs pugilist from Democratic Republic of Congo.
Ajagba (20-1; 14KOs) disclosed, “I’m so excited to fight Martin Bakole. I’ve been waiting to fight him for a very long time, and now I’m going to fight him. So, I’m very excited.”
The former amateur heavyweight champion, who previously represented Nigeria at the 2016 Olympics, after winning Commonwealth Games brinze in 2014 and Africa Games gold in 2015, recalled how Bakole’s shock invitation for a bout with Joseph Parker at short notice in February scuppered their initial scheduled fight and also saw him suffer his second defeat in the ring, but quickly interjected that it does not mean the man from DRC should be written off.
The USA-based Ajagba added, “He got knocked out of the elimination fight, but that does not mean he should be underrated. It’s still going to be a 12-round bout, and I’m not going to look down on him. I’m not going to take him as someone who got knocked out and that I’m going to have an advantage. I will just focus fully to fight as I should and not be overconfident.”
He concluded with a peep into the future, admitting that there would surely be an urge to step up in search of a bigger fish for his fists and, though he admitted he believes in his ability to become champion of the world, Ajagba reasoned that his ambition must flow one step at a time.
“I will focus first on Bakole and, after I get the victory, I’ll step up to whom I’m going to fight next. It may be Usyk or Daniel Debois. I have the abilities, I have the skills and the power, everything to become heavyweight champion,” Ajagba (aka The Silent Roller) affirmed.
