On Thursday, August 29, undefeated heavyweight prospect Stephan “Big Shot” Shaw (11-0, 8 KOs), of St. Louis, MO, will face off against Willie “The Snake” Jake Jr. (8-2-1, 2 KOs), of Indianapolis, IN, in an eight-round featured bout on DiBella Entertainment’s Broadway Boxing series held at Foxwoods Resort Casino, in Mashantucket, CT. The event will be live streamed exclusively on UFC FIGHT PASS®, the world’s leading digital subscription service for combat sports, starting at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. Broadway Boxing is presented by Nissan of Queens, Azad Watches, OPTYX, Christos Steak House and Gagliardi Insurance.
“Stephan Shaw is an unbeaten heavyweight prospect with a lot of potential. He has heavy hands and is coming off of a very impressive knockout in his last fight,” said Lou DiBella, President of DiBella Entertainment. “On August 29, in a featured bout on the UFC Fight Pass stream, ‘Big Shot’ Shaw will be facing a stern test against Willie Jake, a southpaw who likes to mix it up and brawl, so the crowd at Foxwoods will be in for an entertaining fight. The bout compliments a terrific card that also features a New England featherweight matchup between Toka Kahn Clary and Irvin Gonzalez as well as women’s world champion Alicia Napoleon-Espinosa defending her title.”
Speaking from his training camp in San Diego where he is guided by former Olympic coach Basheer Abdullah, Shaw was enthusiastic about his fight on August 29.
“I’m very excited to be back in action and display my talents to the world once again. I’m coming off what I feel is the biggest win of my career so far.
“Willie Jake Jr. is a gutsy fighter, but he hasn’t faced anyone with the talent that I possess. He’s a southpaw and may be somewhat elusive, but my last opponent was an elusive southpaw and we saw how that worked out,” said the confident Shaw.
The 26-year-old Shaw turned professional in December 2013, starting off his pro career with three straight stoppages. Coming from a family of fighters, the 6’4″ Shaw capped his amateur years with 2013 championships at the USA Nationals and the National PAL tournament. On March 3, Shaw knocked out Donovan Dennis in the third round in Columbus, OH, on a special Broadway Boxing card from the annual Arnold Schwarzenegger Sports Festival.
Going into his last fight, Jake had rebounded well after his first loss in 2016, securing six victories and a draw. Now, following his loss to Frank Sanchez Faure in January, Jake will look to get back into the win column again. Prior to his November 2015 pro debut, Jake was a football player at Pasadena City College in California. An injury ended Jake’s football career early and he then turned to boxing, competing in 70 amateur bouts and winning a bronze medal at the 2012 National Golden Gloves tournament. Jake is trained by his father, Willie Sr., a former cruiserweight boxer during the nineties.
Headlining Broadway Boxing on Thursday, August 29, will be featherweight contenders Toka Kahn “T Nice” Clary (26-2, 18 KOs), a native of Liberia, now fighting out of Providence, RI, and Irvin Gonzalez (12-1, 9 KOs), of Worcester, MA, in a 10-round contest.
World champion Alicia “The Empress” Napoleon-Espinosa (11-1, 6 KOs), of Lindenhurst, NY, will defend her WBA Super Middleweight title for the second time against undefeated world-ranked contender Schemelle Baldwin (3-0-1, 2 KOs), a four-time Golden Gloves champion from Newark, DE.
Tickets for the Broadway Boxing event, presented by Nissan of Queens, Azad Watches, OPTYX, Christos Steak House and Gagliardi Insurance, are priced at $125, $75 and $45, and can be purchased online at Foxwoods.com, Ticketmaster.com, by calling 800-200-2882, or visiting the Foxwoods box office. Foxwoods Resort Casino is located at 350 Trolley Line Boulevard, Mashantucket, Connecticut 06338. Doors will open to the Fox Theater at 6:30 p.m., with the first fight scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
