Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela Jr could headline another show in teh coming weeks
TKO has unveiled the vanguard for its much-vaunted Takeover of Boxing. This past weekend saw Dana White reveal that Callum Walsh would meet Carlos Ocampo in their first-ever main event on January 23rd, while Jake Donovan confirms a report from Dan Rafael that Efe Ajagba will face Charles Martin on February 14th.
Both shows will air on Paramount+ from the UFC Apex, a low-capacity facility White and co. built in Vegas to host bouts during the pandemic before realizing it was way cheaper to just load the place with slop instead of putting in effort to craft bespoke shows at exotic locales. It sucks ass.
Walsh (15-0, 11 KO), 24, is the closest thing Zuffa Boxing has to a poster boy. He’s done fairly well for himself in five years as a pro, most notably outclassing Fernando Vargas Jr (not to be confused with the genuinely competent Emiliano Vargas) on the Canelo-Crawford undercard this past September. Ocampo (38-3, 26 KO) is a bold step sideways; outside of a well-aged 2020 victory over Jorge Garcia Perez, his career has seen him mulch underwhelming competition while falling to . He lasted the distance against Sebastian Fundora, but Errol Spence Jr and Tim Tszyu took him out in a combined 4:17.
Ajagba (20-1-1, 14 KO) had the option to rematch Frank Sanchez in an IBF final eliminator, but in an uncomfortably Michael Hunter-esque move, he’s instead signed with Zuffa to face former titlist Martin (30-4-1, 27 KO). “Prince” Charles has fought just twice in the last three years, dropping a UD to Jared Anderson in July 2023 and stopping designated victim Matthew McKinney on a random club show 16 months later.
Quite the step back from Martin Bakole.
Not exactly the stuff of legends, but the bigger threat from White and Turki was always in regulatory capture instead of cornering the market through quality.
Category: General Sports
