
Stephan Shaw has made his statement and now wants big fights
“I’ll fight anybody in the top ten," heavyweight Stephan Shaw tells Ryan Songalia.

“I’ll fight anybody in the top ten," heavyweight Stephan Shaw tells Ryan Songalia.

Punch stats for Stephan Shaw's win over Raphael Akpejiori.

Stephan Shaw rocked Raphael Akpejiori about 20 seconds into the first, then knocked him stiff onto the ring apron in a dramatic win Saturday in Hanover, Maryland.

Heavyweight contender Stephan Shaw believes he will put the knockout record of Raphael Akpejiori to the test.

Joe Goodall has defeated Efe Ajagba by split decision in an amateur match, has a higher knockout ratio than the hard-hitting contender and stopped an opponent in his last bout that took Ajagba the distance during his previous fight. Ajagba recalled that he did enough to defeat Australia’s Goodall in their quarterfinal bout at the 2014 Commonwealth

One of George Kambosos Jr.’s stablemates pulled off an upset on his undercard Saturday night in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Australian heavyweight Joe Goodall dropped Stephan Shaw twice during the sixth round and won their bout by technical knockout on the Kambosos-Maxi Hughes undercard at FireLake Arena. Shaw got up from both knockdowns, but his trainers instructed an Oklahoma State Athletic Commission official to have referee Gary Ritter stop their scheduled eight-rounder with five seconds to go in the sixth round.

Maxi Hughes smiled and promised to sabotage George Kambosos Jr.’s return to the ring as they walked away from each other Friday afternoon. Moments earlier, Kambosos and Hughes both came in beneath the lightweight limit for their 12-round, 135-pound fight Saturday night in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Australia’s Kambosos (20-2, 10 KOs) stepped on the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission’s scale at 134.6 pounds, slightly lighter than England’s Hughes (26-5-2, 5 KOs), who officially weighed 134.7.

Efe Ajagba-Stephan Shaw wasn’t exactly an entertaining main event Saturday night, but ESPN’s audience grew as their 10-round heavyweight contest continued. Nielsen Media Research released data Wednesday that indicated the unremarkable bout between Ajagba and Shaw was

Andre Ward saw some improvement in Efe Ajagba on Saturday night. Not enough, however, that the ESPN analyst is convinced that the hard-hitting Nigerian can compete with the more formidable contenders in the heavyweight division. Ward wants to see more diversity in Ajagba’s offensive repertoire and in how the 6-foot-6, 235-pound power puncher defends himself.

The heavyweights boxed instead of brawled, and Efe Ajagba closed the show strong. Ajagba edged the previously unbeaten Stephan Shaw by 10-round unanimous decision (96-94, 96-94 and 96-94) on Saturday evening at Turning Stone Resort Casino.