The IBF has ordered a final eliminator between Martin Bakole and Efe Ajagba to determine a mandatory for heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois.
Thus far, two fighters, Agit Kabayel and Zhilei Zhang, opted not to face the dangerous puncher Bakole (20-1, 16 KOs) in an IBF-ordered title eliminator. So, now it’s Efe Ajagba’s turn. It’ll be interesting to see if he agrees to this fight.
Ajagba Next up For Bakole
The 2016 Olympian Ajagba (20-1, 14 KOs) is ranked #7 with the IBF and has recent wins against Guido Vianello, Joseph Goodall, Zhan Kossobutskiy, and Stephan Shaw. Ajagba, 30, has the punching power to defeat Bakole, but whether he can hang with him long enough to deliver his bombs is the big question.
#4 IBF Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs destroyed America’s best young heavyweight, Jared Anderson, by a fifth-round knockout last summer on August 3rd in a Riyadh Season card in Los Angeles.
Assuming the 6’6″ Ajagba does take the fight with Bakole, it should be an entertaining one for as long as it lasts. Bakole isn’t hard to hit, and Ajagba has more than enough power to knock him out if he can land something clean.
The only loss on Ajagba’s resume came against Cuban Frank Sanchez, losing a 10-round unanimous decision on October 9, 2021. Sanchez outboxed Ajagba, using angles and movement to befuddle him. Bakole isn’t that type of fighter. He’s got the old Sonny Liston style of standing and brawling with heavy shots.
What’s interesting about Bakole is that he can generate so much power with punches that aren’t thrown with speed, and he hits hard, even at close range. He can throw with power with arm punches, and he doesn’t need to wind up like most heavyweights.
Martin Can Be Beaten
Bakole is far from unbeatable, as we saw in his tenth-round knockout loss to Michael Hunter on October 13, 2018. Hunter was cautious in the first half of the fight, staying away from Bakole’s power while he was still fresh and then coming on late to get the knockout.
Bakole has won his last ten fights since, albeit against middle-of-the-road type fighters. The of the bunch was the hype job Jared Anderson, who Top Rank had been matching carefully against cans to ramp him up for a big money title shot.
Bakole exposed Jared as a fake, which wasn’t surprising to hardcore fans who knew what the deal was with that guy. It might be tougher for Bakole to do the same to Ajagba because he has a lot more talent, power, and a chin. Again, if Ajabga can catch Bakole with one of his big shots, it’ll be night-night for him.
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