For a while now, fans have been wondering how good unbeaten heavyweight contender Stephan “Big Shot” Shaw really is. Currently unbeaten at 18-0(13) the 30 year old from Saint Louis, Missouri will take his biggest fight to date on January 14 in Verona as he will face once-beaten heavyweight Efe Ajagba.
The match-up comes at short notice, as Nigerian man-mountain Ajagba, 16-1(13) was to have fought Oscar Rivas in the ESPN headlining fight that night. Rivas suffered an eye injury and Shaw, who was to have fought on the under card, was offered the fight and he took it without hesitation. “100 percent,” Shaw wrote on his Face Book page when asked if he was fighting Ajagba.
“They asked me will I step in?! Abso-F****N-lutely,” Shaw wrote. “January 14 tune in live on ESPN and watch me take him to school. My time is now.”
Shaw, who has been training over the holiday period, now has the opportunity to put on an impressive display before his biggest TV audience yet.
A pro since December of 2013, Shaw has been moved somewhat slowly, yet he has impressed those fans that have seen him fight. Big enough at 6’4” and around 235 to 240 pounds to live in the land of the giants, Shaw has shown fast hands and good power in taking out the likes of Donovan Dennis, Joey Dawejko and beating the durable Rydell Booker over the course of eight rounds. The January 14 fight will be interesting.
Ajagba was quite disappointing in his October of 2021 fight with unbeaten Cuban heavyweight Frank Sanchez, with Sanchez winning almost every round on the way to his UD victory. Before than, Ajagba, powerfully built and carrying firepower, had wiped out some decent fighters. Ajabga has won one fight since losing to Sanchez, this a stoppage win over Jozsef Darmos who he stopped in August of this year. Shaw’s last fight was the November points win over Booker.
Again, we should get an interesting heavyweight fight on January 14. Can Shaw live up to his “Big Shot” nickname and arrive on the world stage with a commanding win? Or will Ajabga, two years the younger man at age 28, put that loss to Sanchez even further back in his mind?