Efe Ajagba

Boxing career

Ajagba took up the sport of boxing in 2011 after previously playing football for a club in Ughelli since 2005. He is coached by Anthony Konyegwachie.

Ajagba was selected to compete for the Nigerian team at the 2014 Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow. Competing in the super heavyweight division he defeated Junior Fa of Tonga in the round of 16 and Paul Schafer of South Africa in the quarterfinals. He advanced to the semifinals where he was defeated by Joseph Goodall of Australia, meaning Ajagba won a bronze medal.

At the 2015 African Games held in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, Ajagba was selected as the Nigerian entrant in the men's super heavyweight event. He won the gold medal, beating Keddy Angnes of the Seychelles by a score 3–0 in the final.

In 2016 he won the gold medal in the super heavyweight event at the African Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Yaoundé, Cameroon. By doing so Ajagba qualified to represent Nigeria at the 2016 Summer Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the first round Ajagba beat Ugandan Michael Sekamembe on points, he defeated Tunisian boxer Aymen Trabelsi in the semifinal to secure his qualification, then in the final he beat Mohamed Arjaoui of Morocco. Ajagba was the only Nigerian boxer of the ten who competed to qualify for Rio through the tournament, leading to claims from Nigeria's coach Konyegwachie that judges had been bribed.

Personal life

Ajagba was born on 22 April 1994 in Ughelli, Delta State, Nigeria. He formerly worked in a bakery.