There are times when an athlete wants to make a statement by doing something completely unexpected. Curtis Harper is one of those athletes.
On a live broadcast of a PBC card on FS1, Harper, who was supposed to fight highly-touted heavyweight prospect Efe Ajagba, came to the Armory in Minneapolis, stepped into the ring and the moment the bell sounded, Harper walked out of the ring in perhaps one of the strangest things to occur in recent boxing history.
The reason for Harper, now 13-6 as a pro, pulling out? Not being respected and getting paid what he feels like he is worth. As such, Ajagba, who competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as a super heavyweight, gets the 1-second disqualification victory and now moves to 6-0 as a pro. Unfortunately for Ajagba, the DQ win means his five-fight knockout streak is officially over.
Below is the video of Harper pulling the ill-advised stunt.
In the past, there have been fighters, giving up on fights about halfway through their fights, notably most opponents of Vasiliy Lomachenko, but in Harper's case, not a single punch was thrown before going home.
Play-by-play announcer Ray Flores said it best before Harper walked away, "When that man fights, Efe Ajagba, do not blink." Even color commentator and interim WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo said he's never seen anything like this in his life in boxing.
Charlo certainly isn't the only one who has never seen anything remotely close to what Harper pulled and likely will never forget about it ever again.
