Junior welterweight Shohjahon Ergashev, one of boxing's top prospects, will take on fellow unbeaten Mykal Fox on Feb. 15 at the Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane, Kansas, Showtime has announced.
The scheduled 10-round fight will headline a "ShoBox: The New Generation" doubleheader (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET/PT).
"Shohjahon Ergashev is one of the hardest punchers in all of boxing. He will be facing a challenge in the undefeated, skilled, determined fighter in Mykal Fox," said Dmitriy Salita, Ergashev's promoter.
Ergashev (15-0, 14 KOs), 27, a southpaw from Uzbekistan, is a three-year pro fighting out of Detroit, where he is trained by Javan "Sugar" Hill, the nephew of the late, great Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward.
"Everyone says Mykal Fox is my toughest opponent to date, but that doesn't concern me," said Ergashev, who was a four-time Uzbekistan national champion during a 202-14 amateur career. "It actually excites me because when I knock him out, just like I knocked out [former prospect] Sonny Fredrickson, all of the champions in my weight class will know I am coming for them soon. It's going to be Shoh-time in 2019."
Fox (19-0, 5 KOs), 23, of Forestville, Maryland, scored his biggest win in August when he outpointed former junior welterweight titlist DeMarcus "Chop Chop" Corley, though Corley is more than a decade past his best days.
"It's been a dream of mine to fight on 'ShoBox.' It has catapulted the careers of some of my favorite fighters," said Fox, the younger brother of middleweight Alantez Fox (24-1-1, 11 KOs). "I'm hoping it will catapult my career too. My opponent is a good fighter. He has good feet, good speed and great power. I look forward to seeing how our styles match up."
Junior featherweight Thomas Ward (25-0, 4 KOs), 24, of England, will make his United States debut in a scheduled 10-round bout against Jesse Angel Hernandez (12-1, 7 KOs), 28, of Fort Worth, Texas.