Unbeaten heavyweight prospect Efe Ajagba, 8-0(7) is one of the hottest and most promising young fighters on the current scene. Trained by Ronnie Shields, the physically gifted and athletic Nigerian who is based in Texas will face what on paper could be his toughest test to date on March 9, as Ajagba will get in there with veteran Amir Mansour on the under-card of the Shawn Porter/Yordenis Ugas welterweight title fight in Carson.
A pro since July of 2017, the former amateur standout has thus far won with ease in each of his pro bouts (with one guy, Curtis Harper, opting to walk right out of the ring as soon as the bell for the opening round rang!) The longest Ajagba has gone is into the fifth-round, this on one occasion; with all of his other wins coming in the first-round. At an impressively-built 6’5,” the 24 year old seems to also have genuine punching power. But what kind of a test might Ajagba get from 46 year old southpaw Mansour?
Mansour, 23-3-1(16) has been in with some recognisable names, such as Steve Cunningham (a decision loss), Dominic Breazeale (a corner retirement loss due to a savage tongue injury) and, last time out, another heavyweight hope in Filip Hrgovic (a third-round stoppage loss), and though he has come up short, he is very much a respected fighter.
Age is of course against Mansour, but the man from Delaware is in excellent physical shape for a man of his years. Like in most of his fights, the 6’1” Mansour will be giving away height and reach and it might prove to be a tough job for him to get inside on Ajagba. Still, if he can do so, and as long as Mansour has retained serious ambition, then maybe we will get an interesting fight. As with any up-and-coming young fighter, there are questions next to Ajagba’s name: has he got a good chin? How will his stamina hold up if and when he is extended into the later rounds?
We might get an answer to these questions and others on March 9th. Yet another quick Ajagba win would not surprise anyone but Mansour, stopped just twice, could stick around for a while. And for as long as he is in there throwing punches, Mansour will be dangerous. One thing is for certain: Mansour will not run out of the ring before a single punch has been cocked, much less thrown, the way Harper did.
The fight is scheduled for eight rounds.