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Deontay Wilder will fight second-time heavyweight champion Stefan Shaw in his return in April at the BLK Prime PPV in Atlanta, Georgia.
Many fans have never heard of 12-year pro Shaw, but he is known to the hardcore boxing crowd for his bout against Efe Ajagba. Shaw will be a good barometer to measure Deontay's career progress.
Things have gotten pretty bad for 39-year-old Deontay, who is now relegated to a major-network fight against non-contender Shaw. The bronze bomber had to get a trace and fpiss off your coach Malik Scott, following his loss to Tyson Fury in their 2021 trilogy.
The changes Malik tried to make with Deontay, trying to turn him into a boxer, failed. Now he's stuck fighting a lower-tier fighter that he can lose and that will be it. End of career. It's never a good idea to have a coach as your friend.
A must-win situation
Wilder, 39, is in a tough situation to win 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's an excellent chance Deontay loses this fight if he continues to be afraid of striking, as we've seen in his four losses since 2020. this way.
This fight will show if Wilder can still be seen as a marketable fighter. If he fails to defeat Shaw (20-2, 15 KOs), it would be a sign that he should retire.
A 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 careers and when he stopped being the aggressive “Bronze Bomber” that fans once knew.
After that fight, Deotay seemed reluctant to pull the trigger on his punches, leading to his trilogy loss to lightweight Fury and his defeats to what looked like punches Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang. A more fearless, younger version of Wilder could have won all three fights.
The Rise and Fall of Shaw
Shaw is a tough fighter, capable of taking a good shot and returning fire. He went 10 rounds with heavyweight contender Efe Ajagba, losing by narrow decision on 14 January 2022. However, the little-known Joseph Goodall knocked out Shaw in the sixth round on July 22, 2023. A loss to this level of opponent showed that Shaw is susceptible to heavy hitting.
Before losing to Ajagba, the 6’4″ Shaw was seen as a future contender in the division and as one of the guys who could potentially challenge for a world title. However, after his loss to Ajagba, not much was said about him. The knockout loss to Goodall further damaged his tarnished image with 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: I 1
