Efe Ajagba: Nigerian boxer gets disqualification win against Zhan Kossobutskiy, takes WBC Silver belt

Nigerian professional boxer Efe Ajagba continues to further his career in the United States of America.

Early on Sunday, August 27, 2023, Efe Ajagba accepted a disqualification victory against Khazktan prospect Zhan Kossobutskiy.

Ajagba got the win as Kossobutskiy was disqualified for an abnormally disproportionate number of low blows.

At 0:33 of round four at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the visiting Kazakh heavyweight was ejected by referee Chris Flores.

In the first round, Kossobutskiy stunned an initially uninterested Ajagba by finding a place for his right hand.

Momentum quickly changed in round two when Ajagba, a Nigerian Olympian from 2016 who is now residing in the Houston region, repeatedly hit Kossobutskiy to the body.

Later in the round, Kossobutskiy returned to deliver a right hand, but Ajagba was still feeling confident.

In round three, Kossobutskiy delivered two straight left uppercuts that connected well below the belt causing Ajagba to scream in agony and fall to his knees.

Referee Flores called time and brought Kossobutskiy around the ring to tell the judges to deduct one point from his final score.

Moments later, a similar event happened, and Kossobutskiy was informed that he was about to be disqualified.

Ajagba was warned later in the round for delivering a low blow of his own which appeared to be an accident.

At the beginning of the fourth round, Kossobutskiy strutted to a neutral corner, aware that he was headed into the losing column, landing another calculated low blow and sending Ajagba to the canvas.

That was the final act as the referee awarded the win to Ajagba and disqualified Kossobutskiy.

It was a low-blow controversy that trended after Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk recorded a technical knockout win against Daniel Dubois earlier in the day.

After losing to Frank Sanchez in Las Vegas in October 2021, Ajagba won three matches in a row.

Though the 29-year-old is gradually boxing his way back into contention, he is still yet to put out a dominant performance.

The victory means that Ajagba now holds the WBC Silver heavyweight belt and is expected to move up the rankings.