Lawrence Okolie barely broke a sweat as he forced Ebenezer Tetteh to retire just two rounds into their headline bout in Lagos.
Tetteh, 37, appeared oddly uninterested from the first bell and offered little to no response as Okolie raced out of the gates with a barrage of powerful body shots.
There was no change for the second round, by the end of which Tetteh was not even bothering to keep his hands up as Okolie left him stranded on the ropes.
He shrugged at the referee on the way back to his corner and did not answer the bell ahead of the third round, leaving Okolie to be named winner by TKO.
Speaking afterwards, the 33-year-old renewed his interest in facing heavyweight phenom Moses Itauma, 13 years his junior, in a final eliminator, adding that the card could be staged back in Nigeria.
Setting his sights on 2026, Okolie said: “That’s the position I’m used to being in, champion of the world. In 2026, I’m guaranteeing it.
“I’m wishing Moses Itauma good luck in his fight against (Jermaine) Franklin.
“After that, we have been mandated to box an eliminator for the world title. Two Nigerians getting it on, its going to be amazing.”
Pressed as to whether he had any interest in holding the fight in Nigeria, he added: “Yeah, that’s what we want. We are already in discussions. Obviously, Moses has to finish his fight well, and then it’s there.”
While the main event at ‘Chaos in the Ring II’ was rather underwhelming, the undercard delivered a rash of exciting fights, many of which featured local Nigerian talent.
Frenchman Tony Yoka delivered a brutal first-round uppercut to knock out Patrick Korte, and, speaking afterwards, he called out Briton Joe Joyce. The pair have faced one another several times before, but their most notable meeting came in the heavyweight gold medal bout at the 2016 Olympics, which Yoka won by split decision.
Tooting-born Shiloh Defreitas also tasted victory. His opponent, Nigerian Kabiru Salawu, was perhaps lucky to last the full duration of the fight having twice been dropped in earlier rounds, and the final decision was, unsurprisingly, unanimous.
