Efe Ajagba (Left)
Nigeria’s sole boxer at the ongoing Rio 2016 Olympics, Efe Ajagba
has crashed out of boxing competition. The 22-year-old lost his
quarter-final bout to Kazakhstan’s Ivan Dychko by unanimous decision in
the Super Heavyweight 91kg category.
Dychko who approached the first round as favourite aimed directly at the Nigerian’s face and landed a couple of right-hand punches and was rewarded by the judges who gave him a 10-10-10 lead over Ajagba’s 9-9-9.
In round two, Ajagba tried to shrug-off the effect of the blows he received in the first, but again the lanky and experienced Dychko showed class, capitalizing on his opponent’s weaknesses to gain more points.
Round two ended with the Kazakhstani getting another 10-10-10 to
the Nigerian’s 9-9-9. Knowing fully well he needed to just possibly
knockout his opponent to get any chance of progressing, Ajagba came out
strong in the third and final round, throwing jabs to win the third with
a 10-10-10 to his opponent’s 9-9-9, but time ran out and Ivan Dychko
was adjudged the winner by unanimous decision.
Recall that it took Nigeria’s Efe Ajagba just 23 seconds to
knockout his Trinidad & Tobago opponent Nigel Paul in the second
round. With the quarter-final loss, Nigeria has no more representative
in boxing.
Nigerian fans will now focus on football, where the Dream Team Vi will play Germany for a place in the final.
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