Ajagba (6'6, 85 inch reach) is a slight betting favourite, perhaps because he's judged to have beaten the better opponents, albeit all by UD10 (Demirezen, Shaw, Rice). This apparently outweighs the vulnerability he's shown (dropped by Kiladze, dropped and outboxed by Sanchez). Kossobutskiy (6'3, 78 inch reach) has looked more destructive against the level of opposition he's fought (Smakici KO1, Sokolowski KO10, Dawejko KO2 etc.), he seems to have better amateur pedigree and he's a southpaw. 34 year old Kossobutskiy is undefeated and presumably an aspiring contender getting his first big step up fight (after the "visa issues" which prevented him from fighting prospect Anderson), whereas 29 year old Ajagba is the gatekeeper who failed in his. I expect the former to have more hunger and confidence.
I think Kossobutskiy is much more skilled and will dominate Ajagba. Hopefully Anderson vs Kossobutskiy is back on. Since they both have alright wins now, the winner between them would be a legitimate contender and perhaps could find a good fight vs another top guy, either due to ranking or in Anderson's case ticket sales.
Zhan Kossobutskiy is the real boxer, unlike current top 5 (excluding Zhang and Usyk), 25th on boxrec going against 26th (or the other way) Ajagba. Great fight, shame Anderson ducked him. Whoever wins will go in top 10, at least in my list. Especially Zhan who was 10th in Ring rankings, just below Hrgovic.
