Rising heavyweight Efe Ajagba made his Las Vegas debut a memorable if short one by destroying German veteran Michael Wallisch with a second-round stoppage.

 

The bout served as the televised opener to the world title headliner featuring former world champions Robert Easter Jr. and Rances Barthelemy, live on SHOWTIME Championship Boxing at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.

This guy's good. @AjagbaEfe ends it early via TKO. #EasterBarthelemy pic.twitter.com/2BiWkrzmrw

— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) April 28, 2019

The 25-year-old Ajagba (10-0, 9 KOs) wasted no time going after Wallisch, throwing 93 punches in the first round, an extremely high number for any fighter, but especially for a heavyweight. He used his powerful jab to keep Wallisch, 33, from getting inside. In the process, the German was cut over the left eye.

 

Ajagba, a 6-5, 245-pound physical marvel from Nigeria and now fighting under trainer Ronnie Shields in Texas, continued his high-powered work rate in the second round, punishing Wallisch with power in both hands, including an occasional uppercut and plenty more jabs.

 

At one point in the second round, Wallisch took a knee, and Ajagba hit him after he was down. Referee Tony Weeks stopped the count and gave Wallisch time to recover. It didn’t last long, however. After a damaging flurry by Ajagba on the ropes, Weeks had seen enough and stepped in and stopped it at 1:40. It was just the second loss for Wallisch, who fell to 19-2 (12 KOs) in his U.S. debut.