Efe Ajagba: Nigerian boxer on route to face Anthony Joshua

Nigeria's Efe Ajagba triumphed over fellow Olympian and longtime sparring partner Guido Vianello of Italy.

After ten heavyweight rounds, Ajagba was awarded a split decision victory by two additional judges, with Vianello being pronounced the winner by one judge, 96-94.

They did a great job; Vianello got out to a fast start, and Ajagba came back to win the middle rounds.

Ajagba outperformed Vianello in terms of total punch count, mostly thanks to his jab, while Vianello won with power strikes.

Ajagba's win against Vianello means that he retained the World Boxing Council (WBC) Silver belt.

The Silent Roller is now among the top 10 in the WBC rankings.

It means he now has a short-to-face British Boxer of Nigerian descent, Anthony Joshua.

Tyson Fury is the reigning WBC champion and there is expected to be a mandatory after his first fight with Oleksandr Usyk.

If stripped, Ajagba will be one of the contenders to face the number one ranked Joshua for the WBC title.