Boxing: Efe Ajagba crashes out of Rio 2016

- Efe Ajagba has bowed out of the Rio 2016 boxing event

- The Nigerian lost to Kazakhstan's Ivan Dychko in the quarter-final

- Nigerian fans will now focus on football and athletics

Nigeria's sole boxer at the ongoing Rio 2016 Olympics Efe Ajagba has crashed out of the Games.

The 22-year-old lost his quarter-final bout to Kazakhstan's Ivan Dychko by unanimous decision in the Super Heavyweight 91kg category.

Dychko who approached the first round as favourite aimed directly at the Nigerian's face and landed a couple of right-hand punches and was rewarded by the judges who gave him a 10-10-10 lead over Ajagba's 9-9-9.

In round two, Ajagba tried to shrug-off the effect of the blows he received in the first, but again the lanky and experienced Dychko showed class, capitalizing on his opponent's weaknesses to gain more points.

Round two ended with the Kazakhstani getting another 10-10-10 to the Nigerian's 9-9-9.

Knowing fully well he needed to just possibly knockout his opponent to get any chance of progressing, Ajagba came out strong in the third and final round, throwing jabs to win the third with a 10-10-10 to his opponent's 9-9-9, but time ran out and Ivan Dychko was adjudged the winner by unanimous decision.

Recall that it took Nigeria’s Efe Ajagba just 23 seconds to knockout his Trinidad & Tobago opponent Nigel Paul in the second round.

With the quarter-final loss, Nigeria has no more representative in boxing. Nigerian fans will now focus on football, where the Dream Team Vi will play Germany for a place in the final.

The most populous black nation also has a handful of participants in Athletics, including Divine Oduduru who has cruised to the semi-final of the mens 200m race at the Rio Olympics after coming second behind Usain Bolt in his 200m heat.

Source: Legit.ng