Deontay Wilder will fight second-tier heavyweight Stephan Shaw in his return in April at BLK Prime PPV in Atlanta, Georgia.
Many fans have never heard of 12-year professional Shaw, but he is known to the hardcore boxing public for his clash with Efe Ajagba. Shaw will be a good barometer to measure Deontay’s career progress.
Things have gotten pretty bad for 39-year-old Deontay, now reduced to battling the major networks against non-contender Shaw. The Bronze Bomber must have gotten a clue and fangered his coach, Malik Scott, after his loss to Tyson Fury in their trilogy in 2021.
The changes Malik tried to make with Deontay to turn him into a boxer failed. He is now stuck fighting a lower level fighter, who might lose, and that would be that. Career over. It is never a good idea to have a trainer who is your friend.
Must win situation
Wilder, 39, is in a dire must-win situation with his career after losing two of his fights and four of his last five. There are many questions about whether former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (43-4-1, 42 KOs) is washed up. There is an excellent chance that Deontay will lose this fight if he continues to be afraid to throw punches as we have seen in his four losses since 2020.
This fight will show if Wilder can still be considered a marketable fighter. If he is unable to defeat Shaw (20-2, 15 KOs), it will be a sign that he needs to retire.
turning point
Most would agree that Wilder’s 7th round knockout loss to Tyson Fury in their second fight of 2020 was a turning point in their career and where he stopped being the aggressive ‘Bronze Bomber’ that fans once knew.
Since that fight, Deotay has seemed reluctant to pull the trigger on his punches, which resulted in him losing the trilogy to the light-tempered Fury by knockout and being beaten by a shot-looking Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang. A more fearless, younger version of Wilder could have won all three fights.
Shaw’s rise and fall
Shaw is a solid fighter who is able to take a good shot and fire back. He went 10 rounds with heavyweight contender Efe Ajagba and lost a close decision on January 14, 2022. However, the unknown Joseph Goodall knocked Shaw out in the sixth round on July 22, 2023. To lose against that level of opponent showed that Shaw is susceptible to a hard knock.
Before losing to Ajagba, the 6’4″ Shaw was considered a future contender in the division and one of the guys who could possibly fight for a world title. After his loss against Ajagba, not much has been said about him since then. The knockout loss to Goodall further damaged his diminished view of him among hardcore boxing fans.
Shaw’s last six fights:
Jason Bergman: TKO 1
Brandon Johnson: TKO 1
Joseph Goodall: TKO 6 loss
Efe Ajagba: UD 10 loss
Rydell Booker: OUT 8
Bernardo Marquez: Me 1
