Blue-chip heavyweight prospect Efe Ajagba (6-0, 5 KOs), 24, a 2016 Nigerian Olympian who has moved to the United States to train in Houston under the guidance of Ronnie Shields, was scheduled for a six-round bout with Curtis Harper (13-6, 9 KOs), 30, of Jacksonville, Florida, in one of the televised bouts on the Premier Boxing Champions card on Fox Sports 1.
Both fighters made their way to the ring, were introduced to the crowd, walked to the center of the ring for the final instructions from referee Celestino Ruiz and then returned to their respective corners to await the final bell. But when the bell rang, Harper stunningly left the ring.
In my 18 years of covering #boxing, Iβve never seen this. Heavyweight Curtis Harper had second thoughts about fighting unbeaten Ege Ajagba, so he decided to leave the ring and disqualify himself .. pic.twitter.com/IS4fsjpJw7
— Francisco A. Salazar (@FSalazarBoxing) August 25, 2018
He walked down the steps, up the ramp and out of the arena, leaving Ajagba and everyone else dumbfounded.
Ruiz ruled Ajagba the winner by way of disqualification at one second of the first round.
According to PBC ringside reporter Jordan Hardy, who said she spoke to Harper, he walked out of the ring because “he’s not getting paid enough to fight and that he wants respect.”
If yβall are wondering I spoke to Harper and he said he walked out of the ring because heβs not getting paid enough to fight and that he wants respect. π€¦π»ββοΈ #AjagbaHarper #PBConFS1
— Jordan Hardy (@PBCJordanHardy) August 25, 2018
Harper did, however, sign a contract for the bout for a set purse. That left many Twitter users scratching their heads.
Yeah I retweeted that and I get it but u signed a contract & going about it in the way he did, he made everyone lose including his corner. Wasted everyones time and no one gets paid.
— Miss Melendez (@MissMimi417) August 25, 2018
I agree. It was definitely unprofessional. He screwed his chances in boxing. No one's going to take the risk and put him on a card.
— Jules (@jules_augus) August 25, 2018
Bye bye career! pic.twitter.com/eXUWOJ7OSV
— Miss Melendez (@MissMimi417) August 25, 2018
Pretty much. pic.twitter.com/LcuEBszM7U
— Jules (@jules_augus) August 25, 2018
When the money π° ainβt good enough π€£ pic.twitter.com/426czFv9Lj
— Benny Blanco (@BENdejadas) August 25, 2018
https://twitter.com/ogSwilli/status/1033170301851455488https://twitter.com/SeanJohn1313/status/1033250441939898368
Cool. Well now he can enjoy not getting paid at all after this stunt. What a waste of talent. Iβm missing the heyday of boxing more and more as the corpse of this sport is getting dragged through the 21st century.
— David π #PAXEast πΎ (@DaGiltyMan) August 25, 2018
Well now he won't be getting paid at all so mission accomplished
— Chris VZ (@Sparty_VZ) August 25, 2018
Didn't he sign a contract stating what he was getting paid before he entered the ring? π
— Orange ππ₯π π³ππ (@warrenisace) August 25, 2018