Top Rank has announced their first fight of 2023 on Jan. 14, at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York, which will be headlined by a ten-round main event between heavyweight Olympian Efe Ajagba vs. Oscar Rivas, who is the current WBC bridgerweight champion, which is not be advertised for this fight.
“I am injury-free and ready to show the world what I can accomplish when I am 100 percent,” Ajagba said. “I respect Oscar Rivas for accepting the challenge. We will give the fans a great show, but I will be victorious on January 14th.”
Rivas sees this as a big moment in his career.
“I'm extremely happy to be back in the ring in Verona where I had a lot of success not too long ago. I'm proud of my WBC Bridgerweight title and will be defending it soon, but this opportunity Top Rank gave us at heavyweight was too good to pass up,” said Rivas. “I also have a lot of respect for Ajagba, and while I agree with him that it will be spectacular for the fans, my skills and my experience will be the difference.”
The co-feature will see Olympian Guido Vianello face Stephan Shaw in a battle of undefeated fighters heavyweight fighters with heavyweight aspirations.
The card will be broadcast on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
Undercard bouts will stream live and exclusively on ESPN+ and including a world-class fight between junior lightweight tilt between Adam “BluNose” Lopez and Abraham “El Super” Nova.
