If you’re a boxing fan you’ve probably been glued to the Olympics.
It’s the pinnacle of the amateur game and it’s where some of the future greats are blooded like Lennox Lewis, Anthony Joshua, and er, Audley Harrison.
It’s a great chance to see the technical abilities of the sport’s up-and-comers – but you still can’t beat a good knock-out along the way.
One man making waves in the super-heavyweight division at the Olympics is Efe Ajagba – Nigeria’s sole boxing hopeful.
He might only be 22 but he’s an absolute beast of a man and he looks like he’s got tremendous power in his fists.
He faced a stern test against Trinidad and Tobago’s Nigel Paul, with a place in the quarter finals of the Rio Games at stake.
But it didn’t take long to end the 27-year-old Paul’s night and brutally put a halt to his progress in the Olympic boxing in the first round.
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#NGR Efe Ajagba finishes off #TTO Nigel Paul, who falls like a sack of onions. pic.twitter.com/NBo7ZCxsty— Gary Al-Smith (@garyalsmith) August 14, 2016
With just 20 seconds left in the opening stanza, Ajagba had his opponent completely lights out and chewing canvas. He teed it up with the left and swiftly followed up with a crisp right hand to the jaw which knocked him out cold on the deck.
Even if they’d still be using headguards, we reckon the result would have been the same – such was the precision and power of the shot.
Ajagba, who won gold at the 2015 All Africa Games and bronze at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, now faces a tough test against Kazakhstan’s highly-rated super heavyweight Ivan Fyodorovich Dychko on Tuesday night in the quarter finals.
The hulking Kazakh won bronze at London 2012 and boasts some knock-out power of his own and is current world number two.
Team Nigeria boxing coach Anthony Konyegwachie reckons his man’s got another KO in him – and reckons he’s a shoo-in for a medal. With two bangers going at it, it’s going to be a great fight to watch to see who makes the semis in Rio.
