Heavyweight hopeful Efe Ajagba continued his gradual climb up the rankings with a fourth-round stoppage of amateur rival Joe Goodall on Saturday in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

Ajagba (19-1, 14) walked down Goodall behind a stiff jab, stunning the 31-year-old Australian with an uppercut in Round 3, before dropping the Brisbane native with a right hand at the start of the fourth.

Goodall (10-2-1, 9 KOs), who holds an amateur victory over Ajagba, got up but the 29-year-old Nigerian pressed and punished him until veteran referee Tony Weeks waved the bout off 50 seconds into the round.

The man is a threat 😤 @AjagbaEfe pic.twitter.com/jtv0j2b17e

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) November 5, 2023

In the co-featured bout of the Top Rank/ESPN show, Raymond Muratalla (19-0, 16 KOs), The Ring’s No. 10-rated lightweight, dominated unbeaten Mexican puncher Deigo Torres (18-1, 17 KOs) en route to an eighth-round stoppage.

Muratalla was the aggressor from the opening bell but the 26-year-old Southern Californian applied smart and steady pressure, stepping in and out of Torres’ range as he systematically broke down the 26-year-old native Jalisco, Mexico with accurate jabs and one-two combinations.

Torres, who had no answer for Muratalla’s economical punching and control of distance, was sleepwalking by Round 6, rocked during an exchange at the end of Round 7, and down one minute into Round 8 (from an uppercut-hook combination). Torres beat the count on wobbly legs and was saved from further punishment by referee Celestino Ruiz at 1:45 of the round.

THE COMBO SEALS THE DEAL 😱

🌟 Raymond Muratalla moves to 19-0! pic.twitter.com/3XOviyloHw

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) November 5, 2023

Muratalla said he hopes his next bout is for a world title during his post-fight interview.

Email Fischer at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter and IG at @dougiefischer, and join him, Tom Loeffler, Coach Schwartz and friends via Tom’s or Doug’s IG Live most Sundays.

Follow Dougiefischer

SUBSCRIBE NOW (CLICK HERE - JUST $1.99 PER MONTH) TO READ THE LATEST ISSUE