| Raphael Akpejiori | |
| Real Name: | Ethasor Raphael Akpejiori |
| Nickname: | Nigerian Hurricane |
| Weight: | Heavyweight |
| Height: | 6 ft 8 in |
| Birth Place: | Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria |
| Style: | Orthodox |
| Boxrec: | 840891 |
| Total: | 18 |
| Wins: | 17 |
| Ko: | 16 |
| Losses: | 1 |
Ethasor Raphael Akpejiori is a Nigerian professional boxer.
Ethasor Raphael Akpejiori was born on 10 October 1990 in Lagos, Nigeria, and grew up in the Surulere area of the city.[1] [2] He has five siblings.[3] In 2008, at the age of 17, he moved to Wichita, Kansas, on a basketball scholarship, where he attended Sunrise Christian Academy. In 2010, he moved to Miami, Florida, after being recruited by the University of Miami basketball team (where he played four seasons), eventually switching to play American football as a graduate student in 2014, and gaining a place at the Miami Dolphins' rookie training camp in 2015.[4] [5] He holds a bachelors and master's degree in mechanical engineering.[6]
Akpejiori had a brief amateur career, compiling a record of 13–1 (10 KOs).[6] He has been invited by the Nigerian Boxing Federation to compete for Nigeria at the Tokyo Olympics as a super-heavyweight.[7]
Promoted by CES Boxing and trained by former world champion Glen Johnson,[8] Akpejiori made his professional debut on 14 September 2018, scoring a first-round technical knockout (TKO) victory over Omar Acosta at the Twin River Event Center in Lincoln, Rhode Island.[9] Following another first-round TKO win over James Advincola in November,[10] Akpejiori scored three more first-round stoppage wins in 2019; a knockout (KO) over Leo Cassiani in June;[11] and TKOs over Johan Lopez in July[12] and Jose Pulido in August.[13] Akpejiori's first fight of 2020 was a second-round TKO win against Mike Ford in January.[14]
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | Win | 17-1 | Santander Silgado Gelez | TKO | |||||
| 17 | Win | 16-1 | Francisco Silvens Mateo | KO | |||||
| 16 | Loss | 15–1 | Arslanbek Makhmudov | TKO | 2 (10), | 1 Jul 2023 | |||
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Dell Long | TKO | 1 (8), | 21 Jan 2023 | |||
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Terrell Jamal Woods | 8 | 11 Jun 2022 | ||||
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Santander Silgado | TKO | 1 (8), | 6 Nov 2021 | |||
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Steven Lyons | TKO | 1 (8), | 10 Jul 2021 | |||
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Brandon Spencer | TKO | 2 (8), | 11 Jun 2021 | |||
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Curtis Head | TKO | 1 (6), | 24 Apr 2021 | |||
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Joshua Tuani | KO | 1 (6), | 23 Jan 2021 | |||
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Jared Torgeson | TKO | 2 (6), | 7 Nov 2020 | |||
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Gary Kelly | TKO | 2 (6), | 22 Aug 2020 | |||
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Mike Ford | TKO | 2 (6), | 17 Jan 2020 | |||
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Jose Pulido | TKO | 2 (6), | 17 Aug 2019 | |||
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Johan Lopez | TKO | 1 (4), | 26 Jul 2019 | |||
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Leo Cassiani | 1 (4), | 15 Jun 2019 | ||||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | James Advincola | TKO | 1 (4), | 21 Nov 2018 | |||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Omar Acosta | 1 (4), | 14 Sep 2018 |
In November 2023, Akpejiori married basketball player and NBA analyst Chiney Ogwumike.[15]