Martin Bakole and Efe Ajagba – heavyweights who stood, albeit shakily, only a step or two away from the biggest fights in the division – both needed a decisive performance to advance their careers Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Trouble was, each stood in the other’s path on the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez-William Scull undercard. In the end, there was nothing decisive or career-propelling about their clash.

Bakole, coming off an ugly knockout loss to Joseph Parker in February, overcame a sluggish start but wound up fighting the neither-fish-nor-fowl Ajagba to a 10-round majority draw, leaving each with no clear path forward.

Scores came in at 96-94 for Ajagba and 95-95 (twice).

Bakole, 21-2-1 (16 KOs), from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, needed a strong showing after the stoppage loss to Parker, which, in his defense, he accepted on roughly 48 hours notice. But even after a full camp ahead of Saturday’s fight, the 299lbs Bakole was still too heavy for his own good against Ajagba. At 33, he will need some good fortune – and better boxing – to step into the upper tier to test himself against the world’s best heavyweights.

Nigeria’s Ajagba, 31, is no better off. A big hitter when he was on his way up, he has lately reacted to some chinny performances with a high degree of self-preservation – not exactly the stuff of dazzling heavyweight fights. And with no signature wins to date, Ajagba, 20-1-1 (14 KOs), seems no closer to breaking through to challenge top heavyweights in meaningful bouts than he was five years ago.

At 240lbs on the night, Ajagba at least had the right idea to be wary of his far bigger foe. Jabbing cautiously but dutifully, he punctuated a slow first round for both fighters with an overhand right. Bakole poked and prodded a bit more in Round 2 – but to little effect.

Ajagba picked up his aggressiveness in the third, thudding Bakole with several lead rights – including a flush delivery upstairs that shook the bigger man to his knees. Bakole ended the round firing wide, arcing punches while his opponent shelled up with his back on the ropes. It was Ajagba, though, who continued to control the action.

Bakole finally awoke in the fourth, walking down and wading through the offense of Ajagba to get off his own punches. WIth Ajagba’s corner directing him to get off the ropes – “Walk him! Walk him!” – Bakole had some success hemming in his opponent long enough to get off several effective blows. A thudding left hook in the first minute of the round was perhaps Bakole’s best punch of the fight, and he followed with more hooks and uppercuts, which seemed to slow Ajagba’s feet and take some steam off his punches.

As quickly as he had captured the momentum, Bakole gave it away, effectively taking the fifth off. If the idea was to lure in Ajagba, it only allowed the fitter fighter to catch his breath, regroup and even land the punch of the round – a big right hand that caught Bakole cleanly as he puzzlingly played around on the ropes.

Ajagba rediscovered his movement in the sixth, jabbing, potshotting and launching the occasional right hand while bouncing around the outskirts of the ring. Bakole, seemingly sensing the fight slipping away, turned up the pressure in the seventh – but all it got him was a series of lunging misses and the opportunity to eat a few well-placed counter shots as Ajagba fell into a stick-and-move rhythm.

Bakole went into full chase mode to start the eighth, and then, frustrated, quickly gave up on the strategy to stand at center ring, play to the crowd and call Ajagba to come to him. It was a no-go – until Ajagba got zinged while the fighters traded shots. With Ajagba finally standing mostly still against the ropes, Bakole unloaded with left hooks and overhand rights – most of which were at least partially blocked but all of which had an effect, bloodying Ajagba’s mouth by the end of the round.

The damage seemed to suck the life from the legs of Ajagba, who was suddenly standing tall, lock-kneed and trading with Bakole in the ninth. It did not go well for him. Although Ajagba landed several clean shots off stepback punches, Bakole’s ability to land from a flat-footed stance the kind of heavy leather that scrambles grey matter made the tradeoff a lopsided one for Ajagba.

In the 10th and final round, Ajagba sucked it up and showed a renewed commitment to his footwork, finding more of the success he enjoyed during his best moments of the fight. But all it took was Bakole cutting off the ring and landing one heavy shot, then following with a booming jab/right-hand combination, to swing the scoring. Bakole’s range and timing had caught up with him, as he beat Ajagba to the punch or countered effectively several times in the final minute – even if it wasn’t in time to tilt the judges’ scoring in his favor.

Earlier in the undercard, former cruiserweight contender Richard Riakporhe won his heavyweight debut with a fourth-round stoppage of Kevin Nicolas Espindola.

Riakporhe, now 18-1 (14 KOs), came in at a jacked 235lbs after weighing in at the 200lbs cruiserweight limit in his previous outing – a 12-round unanimous decision loss to then-titleholder Chris Billam-Smith, Riakporhe’s first career defeat.

Argentina’s Espindola, now 9-10 (4 KOs), would likely have been out of his depth against London’s Riakporhe at nearly any weight or fitness level, but he was especially vulnerable against Riakporhe’s cultured punch repertoire and superior motor. When Riakporhe sank a left hook into Espindola’s body, it sent his opponent to a knee and effectively ended the fight. Espindola rose to finish the round, but the fight was called off moments later between rounds.

In just his fourth fight, Saudi Arabia native Mohammed Alakel washed out Mexico’s Alexander Morales in a six-round lightweight bout. Alakel advanced to 4-0 while Morales dropped to 6-14-5 (2 KOs).

Super middleweight Brayan Leon of Cuba turned in a similar result against Mexico’s Aaron Rocha Guerrero in a wide, six-round points win. Leon improved to 7-0 (6 KOs), while Guerrero, 11-4-1 (7 KOs), had to be content with being the first opponent to go the distance with Leon.

In his professional debut, Marco Verde, a southpaw from Mexico who won a silver medal at welterweight in the 2024 Olympics, dismantled countryman Michel Galvan Polina in a first-round stoppage. This fight took place at middleweight. Verde, 1-0 (1 KO), dropped Polina, 4-6-3 (2 KOs), twice before the fight was stopped barely halfway through the round at the 1-minute, 34-second mark.

Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, was a contributor to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Chicago Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be found at LinkedIn and followed on X and Bluesky.