Ajagba stops Kiladze in wild scrap

Saturday night in Ontario, California, the co-main event had heavyweight prospect Efe Ajagba remain undefeated against Iago Kiladze, stopping him in five rounds in what was a wild one that took place on Premier Boxing Champions on Fox. This contest led to the main event which saw Jermell Charlo defeat Tony Harrison to regain the WBC Super Welterweight titles.

The match was the first one for Ajagba, since a unanimous decision win over  Ali Eren Demirezen back on the Manny Pacquiao-Keith Thurman card back in July. Like that contest, this was a very close one as well before the stoppage.

The slugfest picked up in the third round, which was a wild one.

In that round, Ajagba stunned Kiladze with a right that seeming had him out on his feet. Referee Thomas Taylor, however, decided to let this match continue. What happened afterwards was a then staggered Kiladze regained himself and then, landed a right of his own that sent Ajagba down for the first time in his professional career.

KILADZE OUT OF NOWHERE!

We've got ourselves a battle! The underdog scores a big bounce-back knockdown vs Ajagba in Round 3. pic.twitter.com/EaPYooFwVQ

— FOX Sports: PBC (@PBConFOX) December 22, 2019

The action continued in this until the fifth round, when Ajagba closed out the fight by landing a hard right hand that sent Kiladze down, again. Kiladze got up, still beating the ten count, but from there, Ajagba closed in. And, Kiladze’s corner saved their fighter by throwing in the towel, ending this contest officially at 1:15 of the fifth round.

The contest was a learning one for Ajagba (12-0, 10 KOs) who faced a Kiladze (26-5-1, 18 KOs) who, despite coming in losing three of his last four (0-3-1), had losses came to the hands of Adam Kownacki, Michael Hunter, and Joe Joyce.

Those names are easily the list of up and comers in the heavyweight division. Ajagba finishes with an active 4-0 year in 2019 and will look to continue to grow in 2020.