Last night in Miami, Florida, unbeaten Nigerian man-mountain Raphael Akpejiori improved to 13-0 as a pro, with yet another quick KO. The 31 year old who stands an impressive 6’8” and is trained by the great “Road Warrior” Glen Johnson, wiped out Santander Silgado in the opening round. Akpejiori has yet to go beyond the second round of a fight. Silgado, 30-10(30) of Panama City is no world ranked fighter, in fact the 36 year old’s best days came down at cruiserweight and he has been stopped some nine times, so it’s too early to get too excited about Akpejiori; he has simply taken care of a level of opposition he should be taking care of.
When he does move up in class, Akpejiori will certainly be a heavyweight to keep an eye on, though. Big, obviously carrying some power, and aggressive and hungry, the “Nigerian Hurricane” needs plenty of experience. Having had a short amateur career, where he compiled a 13-1(10) record (this according to Wikipedia), Akpejiori arrived in America at the age of 17. Having Johnson as his trainer is a major plus for Akpejiori and it really will be interesting to see how far he can go.
Akpejiori spoke with Sky Sports this week, and he said his goal is a fight with Tyson Fury.
“He is the man at the top and my goal is to go to the top,” Akpejiori said of Fury. “He’s been doing this for a long time. I’ve been doing this for a good part of five years. I’m learning a lot over the course of time. I believe that when I get there, when I get to fighting him, I will beat him.”
Again, Akpejiori needs a whole lot of work and experience before he can even think of getting a world title shot. Of his 13 pro opponents, only three entered the ring with Akpejiori with a winning record. Guys like Mike Ford, Steven Lyon and now Santiago have been bowled over with ease. But fans love a puncher, and they really love a big heavyweight puncher. Akpejiori is certainly a puncher.
1. Deontay Wilder
2. Luis Ortiz
Flash in the Pan…Tyson “great white hope” love him but usyk wyhte & nigerian will decimate him…retire w your millions & caravan the world bro…
Luis Ortiz never lost to anyone except for Deontay Wilder twice.
How can a fighter be avoided for so long? No one took the risk of the Luis Ortiz challenge. Only Deontay Wilder has the ability to take on all the fighters in the world. Ya gotta cheat him to beat Deontay Wilder.
Mike Tyson and Deontay Wilder would fight the best heavyweights. These Europeans run and duck and Make excuses after another excuse. You gotta sue them and wait two years to fight them only to have them run some more, and when you finally fight they’re without padding, on steroids and crank, then run again and again and again and again.
We have these phony fraudulent interloping intruders calling themselves champions in the UK, Anthony Joshua and fury, they are avoiding the good fighters.
Fight Luis Ortiz. All of the top heavyweights have been avoiding Luis Ortiz.