Efe Ajagba says Frank Sanchez made a huge mistake calling him out as the pair prepare for an eagerly-awaited heavyweight showdown in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
On any other night a meeting of two unbeaten prospects could be a main event, but this time they appear on a stacked undercard for the huge Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder 3 heavyweight title match at T-Mobile Arena.
It is almost unusual to see two men of the profile of Ajagba (15-0) and Sanchez (18-0) meeting each other. Somebody’s ‘0’ must go – and it should be a fascinating contest.
Many experts see the bout as the power of Ajagba (see that most recent KO of Brian Howard in April) vs the boxing ability of Sanchez. Either way, Efe thinks his Cuban opponent made the wrong move calling this bout on.
Ajagba on Sanchez
“Sanchez made a mistake calling me out. It’s a huge mistake. He better be ready for what I’m bringing. We’ve been working on a lot of new different things that you’re going to see in this fight. If he wants to test my power, we’ll see if he can stand up to it.”
Ajagba could not have had a better way to prepare for this fight against a talented boxer. He’s been sparring with heavyweight champ Fury – renowned as the best there is in the heavyweight division from a skills and ringcraft perspective.
Efe said: “It’s been great to be sparring with Tyson Fury because it gives me a lot of good experience. I’ve learned a lot from that work. He puts pressure on me to keep moving in the ring and throwing combination punches.”
Sanchez learning from ‘Canelo’
Sanchez, who will start favourite to claim a 19th victory – but not by much – also has somebody pretty good to learn from in the gym. None other than reigning P4P king Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. Sanchez is part of the all-powerful Eddy Reynoso stable.
He said: “It’s been a great experience training with Eddy Reynoso and I’m learning a lot from him and Canelo. They’ve supported me a lot heading into this fight. Canelo has taught me to be focused and calm in the ring, and most importantly to have confidence in the work that I put into this fight.
“What I’ve seen is that Efe relies on his power. He doesn’t have the boxing skills that I do. Once he faces someone like me, who has a lot of different tools, then it’s going to be different for him.”
