Stephan “Big Shot’ Shaw looked like a heavyweight with the game plan of a much lighter boxer as he picked apart Joey Dawejko at the Top Rank boxing event on ESPN Saturday night. Shaw went into the fight with a jab first strategy and that’s exactly what he did. He jabbed first, second, and third, and used it to control the entire fight.
The first round saw Dawejko come out with a back him down with forward pressure strategy, but Shaw used the jab to feel out his opponent and control the distance. Even though Dawejko looked to be the more aggressive fighter, it was Shaw who was landing punches in bunches. At one point Dawejko looked worried about the sweat already dripping down his head, and he ate a big right hand from Shaw.
Shaw came out blasting the jab again in the second, followed by a big right hook that had Dawejko on the run. It looked like Shaw might get the knockout right there, but Dawejko's toughness kept him in it. Shaw went back to using his jab as the primary weapon, firing it at the head and the body almost equally.
Nothing changed during the third round all the way through to the end of the seventh. Shaw clearly won every round behind his piston jab. He threw that left hand repeatedly and it landed over and over again. Shaw used it to set up the occasional combination, but he had a cautious approach and made sure to stay away from Dawejko’s power shots.
Then in the eighth and final round Shaw continued leading the dance with his jab. He threw a right hook behind it that backed up Dawejko, and Shaw pounced, clearly looking for the finish. Dawejko survived the attack, but looked like he had lost the will to fight, and his corner thought the same thing, stopping the bout with a little over two minutes to go.
The TKO marks Shaw’s 16th win in a row and he remains undefeated in his professional career. You can support Shaw on his quest for a title by buying his merchandise. You can also ask him anything, and follow his journey by keeping an eye on the MILLIONS blog.