Two African heavyweight stars, Martin Bakole and Efe Ajagba, locked horns tonight in Riyadh on the undercard of Canelo Alvarez vs. William Scull for their 10-round skirmish. Both men were hoping to land a shot at one of the heavyweight titles by winning tonight’s contest. However, their bid to make waves in the division came to a screeching halt after the fight was declared a draw. And the boxing world, including WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson, isn’t happy about it.

Two judges scored the bout 95-95, while the third had it 96-94 in favor of Ajagba, resulting in a majority draw. Ajagba stayed ahead on the cards by using his footwork to avoid danger, while Bakole pressed forward in pursuit of a stoppage that never materialized. In the end, both fighters believed they had done enough to secure the win, but to their surprise, neither had their hand raised.

Martin Bakole and Efe Ajagba are disappointed with the outcome

After the results were announced, Ajagba said, “I won the fight, to be honest, I won the fight, but it’s not up to me to decide, it’s the judges’ decision. But if you ask me, I won the fight.” On the flip side, Bakole claimed, “I thought I won the fight, but it is what it is. I will ask His Excellency if I can have the rematch.” It’s worth noting that this was Bakole’s second outing of the year with the Riyadh Season, 10 weeks after he came in at the last moment to save the show. 

He replaced Daniel Dubois in a scheduled fight against Joseph Parker on February 22 earlier this year, two days before fight night. Bakole, of course, lost the fight via a brutal second-round knockout. This was the reason many viewed the draw as a “robbery” after the fight came to a close. Ring Magazine shared a clip from the fight on X, with the caption “Martin Bakole vs Efe Ajagba is scored a majority DRAW ⚔️,” attracting comments from the public.

Shakur Stevenson doesn’t hold back his opinion

Shakur Stevenson, who is scheduled to fight William Zepeda in a title defense on July 12th, didn’t mince his words. He wrote, “That’s a robbery.” Many, in line with Stevenson, felt the Nigerian Efe Ajagba had done enough to secure the victory. This sentiment was evident throughout the comments.

Another user openly mocked the judges for their scoring of the fight. The user commented, “Efe got robbed. Bakole was eating them punches all day.” Although Efe Ajagba appeared dominant in the fight, scoring involves multiple factors, and only the judges can explain the reasoning behind their decisions.

Someone else had echoed a similar opinion about the bout. The user said, “Efe Ajagba has just been robbed in Saudi Arabia. Very easy fight to score. Bakole didn’t win 5 rounds.” It’s yet to be seen whether the fight sees a rematch in the future.

The next user claimed they predicted this would happen in the Bakole vs. Ajagba fight. The user wrote, “I f**king knew it would be a draw LOL.” However, there’s no evidence that the judges were directed to favor Bakole.

Meanwhile, this user penned an extensive comment, expressing their disdain about how the Saudis do business. The user commented, “Saudi favoritism in Bivol vs Beterbiev rematch, Bakole getting a draw with Efe Ajagba, and Turki giving Sheeraz the scorecards midfight and him getting a ‘DRAW’ in a fight he clearly lost to Carlos Adames. #EGO.” Despite the criticism, it often comes down to how a judge sees the fight unfold and less about how the organizers want to see it unfold.

That being said, the public clearly isn’t happy about the outcome of the Martin Bakole vs. Efe Ajagba fight. It would be interesting to see what the future holds for these two fighters. What did you think of the decision?