Adam Azim goes into Saturday’s fight with Steve Claggett at Wembley Arena with the kind of praise that can turn a routine fight week into a statement week. Shane McGuigan, who has trained Carl Frampton, Josh Taylor, George Groves and Ellie Scotney, said the 24-year-old is the most talented boxer he has worked with and would be shocked if he did not become a world champion.
Azim, unbeaten in 14 professional fights, did little to argue the point. At Thursday’s news conference, the British prospect said he would put on a clinical performance, adding: “I came here with one job and I plan on seeing it all the way through,” and, “I put my whole life into this game and I’m ready to show it on fight night.” He also said he was “the fittest guy in a boxing ring.”
That confidence is part of why Azim is being watched so closely. He is 24, has stopped 11 of his 14 opponents, and is ranked seventh by both the IBF and WBO, putting him on the edge of a serious title conversation if he keeps winning. The fight will be shown live on Two, adding a national platform to a contest that could shape his next step.
Claggett, though, is not arriving to fill a date. The Canadian has 50 professional fights and eight losses, and he went the distance with Teofimo Lopez when challenging for the WBO world title two years ago. That makes him a sturdier test than the quick finish many around Azim’s camp seem to expect, even if the younger man enters as the sharper, faster and more explosive fighter.
Azim was supposed to meet Gustavo Lemos in January before injury forced that fight off the schedule, so Saturday is another chance to keep his momentum intact after an interrupted start to the year. On Thursday, he and Claggett had a brief verbal exchange before shaking hands, a small moment that carried the larger shape of the night ahead: one fighter talking about what he is ready to become, the other built to make him work for it.
Ben Shalom has already sketched the consequence. Richardson Hitchins has vacated the IBF belt after moving up in weight and signing with Zuffa Boxing, and the sanctioning body has ordered Lindolfo Delgado to face Arthur Biyarslano for the vacant title. Shalom said a statement win on Saturday could land Azim a shot at the winner, and that is the real stake of this fight now: not just whether he wins, but whether he wins in a way that forces the next door open.
