Ajagba vs. Shaw Preview
The Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York will play host to a dynamic fight in the heavyweight division on Saturday, January 14th. Nigerian prospect Efe Ajagba will battle undefeated rising contender Stephan Shaw in a 10-round fight.
Ajagba (16-1, 13 KO) won his last fight by second round TKO over Jozsef Darmos in August. The win was a big rebound after suffering the first loss of his career by unanimous decision to Frank Sanchez last October. He was expecting to fight Oscar Rivas on Saturday but Rivas was forced to withdraw due to injury. Regardless of who he fights, Ajagba is ready to prove he is a title contender.
“I’ve made adjustments for Saturday night. We’ll see how it goes. I’m ready for him,” said Ajagba. “I wanted to fight Oscar Rivas before. But that changed. But now Shaw has the opportunity to fight me.”
Ajagba continued, “I’m ready to put on a show. I’m going to put more pressure. I can’t wait. I’m so excited to be here.”
The Nigerian fighter has been criticized for not staying active but he believes with the injuries behind him, you will see much more of Ajagba in 2023. “Since I came back from my surgery, I’ve tried to do everything to fight more,” Ajagba said. “That’s why I only had one fight last year. I’ve been trying to get more fights.”
Shaw (18-0, 13 KO) is coming off the biggest win of his career with a unanimous decision win over Rydell Booker in November. He will now get to step in on short notice and get a win over a fighter who has a significant amount of hype behind him. “It definitely gives me the incentive to go out there and beat him up even worse because I feel like he’s had that push and I haven’t,” said Shaw.
Shaw continued to say, “This is America for you; guys can come over from overseas and they can get a push from the so-called machine. But this is my time and this is my opportunity, and I’m ready to seize the moment and be victorious come Saturday night.”
The St. Louis native comes from a boxing family and believes he has all the skills necessary to defeat Ajagba. “I’ve been around boxing my entire life, this is my first love. I fell in love with boxing before I fell in love with a woman,” said Shaw.
The 30-year-old went on to explain, “I don’t see anything that he really does well besides being a puncher, but he hasn’t knocked out guys on my level. He hasn’t fought any fighters that are of my caliber other than Frank Sanchez and he came up short. In his last fight after that he fought a guy that looked like a Hungarian taxi cab driver,” said Shaw.
“Yes he has some power because he is a big man, but I’m a big man as well and I definitely have power. I have the skills and speed and ring IQ as well.”
Shaw has high hopes that a win on Saturday will lead to big things. “I hope it opens up a world title opportunity. I feel like it should be a world title fight on the horizon after I beat Efe Ajagba. Because the exposure that he has had, and him being a former Olympian and him having a good record and being a decent opponent,” he said.
The main card can be seen on ESPN+.
