Ajagba knocks out Nigel Paul in Round One

.To meet Dychko in q/final
By Akeem Lawal
Nigeria’s sole representative in the boxing even of the Rio Olympics, Efe Ajagba is through to the quarter final after knocking out Trinidad and Tobago’s Nigel Paul in round one of the Men’s super heavyweight (91+kg) - Round of 16 bout decided inside the Riocentro-Pavilion 6 on Saturday night.

Having drawn two byes in the preliminary stages, Ajagba made use of his longer reach and ensured he got the right connections he needed with his punches that sent Paul face first to the canvas with 24 seconds remaining in the first round, Sportsbiz247.blogspot.com reports.

The 2014 Commonwealth bronze medalist will be hoping to break Nigeria's 20-year wait for a medal in the boxing event at the Olympics when he comes up against Ivan Dychko of Kazakhstan in the quarter final.

The last time Nigeria won a medal in boxing was in Atlanta 1996 when Duncan Dokiwari won a bronze medal.

Should Ajagba beat Dychko, he will then come up against the winner of the other quarter final clash between Joe Joyce of Great Britain and Bakhodir Jalolov of Uzbekistan in the semi final bout.