On July 1, 2023, a 32-year-old Raphael Akpejiori (15-0, 14 KOs) and a 34-year-old Canadian boxer Arslanbek Makhmudov (16-0, 15 KOs) met in the ring in a heavyweight bout.
Akpejiori came in to the fight on a 15-fight win streak with a 93% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 5 months and 10 days. Makhmudov was on a 16-fight win streak with a 93% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 6 months and 15 days.
Arslanbek Makhmudov stopped Raphael Akpejiori via TKO in the 2nd round. Makhmudov improves his record to 17-0 (16 KOs), while Akpejiori adds a loss to his record at 15-1.