Shohjahon Ergashev: The Breakdown

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The country of Uzbekistan is located in Central Asia and is called home by some 32 million citizens. Known for its picturesque scenery and ethnic diversity, the double-landlocked nation is slowly but surely making waves in the sporting world, producing more successful athletes as the years roll on.

Combat sports is an area in which Uzbekistan has recently been excelling, Boxing in particular. In the 2016 Rio Olympics, they managed to claim a whopping seven medals in the fist-fighting category alone, narrowly besting the world-renowned Cuban boxing team. With their amateur program catching the attention of hardcore fans, those tuned in figured it wouldn’t be long until these young prospects applied their skills to the professional ranks. Olympic champion Hasanboy Dusmatov (1-0, 1KO), a light flyweight, made his long awaited debut late 2019; accompanying him is amateur standout Israil Madrimov (6-0, 5 KO’s), who continues to cook up a stir at 154lbs.

Both Dusmatov and Madrimov are worthy of their own feature-pieces, however they are not the focal point of today’s article. Rather than breakdown a number of Uzbeki standouts with potential to make championship runs in their respective divisions, I will be directing my attention to hard-hitting light-welterweight Shohjahon Ergashev (18-0, 16KO’s), a 28-year-old already striking terror throughout his weight class.

Despite just 18 professional outings, Shohjahon Ergashev is not unfamiliar with the squared circle. As an amateur he was able to amass over 250 fights, spending more than six years in the Uzbekistan national team. After being overlooked for the world championships and Olympic games in 2016, Ergashev turned pro, setting his sights on all highly ranked 140-pounders. In his first year as a pro, he fought six times, winning each encounter by either TKO or Knockout.

If you’re an attentive person you may have noticed Ergashev’s shorts in the featured photo: they boast the word ‘Kronk’. Kronk Gym is one of the sports more renowned households for learning the pugilistic art and was once led by legendary trainer Emanuel Steward, best known for training the likes of Lennox Lewis and Thomas ‘The Hitman’ Hearns. Now currently operated by his nephew, Sugarhill Steward, the gym has experienced its own revival in recent years, with many boxer’s quick to flock to its base in Detriot. Ergashev was one of these young fighters who were keen to make the switch, leaving Russia in 2017 to pursue his dreams of becoming a world championship-level athlete. Kronk gave him the opportunity to do just that.

Basic Fundamentals

The first thing you will notice about Shohjahon Ergashev, besides his solid frame, is raw power. This power can be witnessed in a number of different techniques, however his preferred way of delivering brutality is with his straight left.

This southpaw has a real knack for timing his cross, using it to either shatter the guard of his opponent or find home on the chin. Both outcomes have a lasting effect.

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Starting the fight as he so often does, Ergashev marches forward with a strong cross, allowing Sonny Fredrickson and his guard to feel the shots power. He’s well aware of the reach his opponent possesses and moves out of range to avoid being hit himself. This punch also places Fredrickson on the backfoot, where Ergashev prefers keeping his opponents.

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Egrashev steps in with a good cross, disrupting the rhythm of the bout and landing cleanly. He follows this up by rotating outwards, once again landing his straight left on the half-beat. His confidence is quite literally booming and to top things off, avoids eating any punches of his own. Ergashev is more than happy to lead with his cross as opposed to introducing the jab, something which many would be critical about.

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Taken from his lackluster 2019 performance against the undefeated Mykel Fox, you can clearly see Ergashev struggling to use his jab, causing the timing of his straight left to be off entirely. He continues to throw out some poor jabs and its obvious that managing distance is already a problem; one could argue that the fact Fox is 6foot 3 inches tall is huge reasoning behind this.

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Six months later he was back, this time showing a good conventional jab, popping the punch through the guard of his opponent. This opened up the guard and allowed the cross to follow through.

This was one of the first occasions Ergashev had consistently used a jab to open up combinations and in all seriousness, it was nice to see.

Setting up offense

Planning and plotting offense is critical when looking for success in the ring, with the sports elite figures proving this each time they take center stage under the bright lights. Floyd Mayweather used the body jab to lower the guard and fire crosses or counters through his opponent’s penetrable defense, just as Salvador Sanchez would build a pattern before dismantling it through ruthless (counter) striking.

In spite of me previously criticizing his jab, Shohjahon Ergashev has always used his lead hand tremendously well to set up offense, using it as bait to counter any opponents who think they can slip what is only assumed as a jab. The way he does this is by extending his lead arm, whether that be in front of or on his opponent’s high guard.

Below you will find some examples.

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Ergashev places his lead hand on the guard of his opponent, building offense off of it. One wicked cross has Fredrickson staggering, prompting him to try the same maneuver again.

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Extending his lead arm allows Ergashev to control distance better and keep the opposition at bay. As you can see, Abdiel Ramirez jumps on the opportunity he believes has been presented to him by unloading an overhand; Ergashev is able to avoid this punch as he has the shorter man fighting at his range.

Due to investing in his jab early on, the 28-year-old found it easy to slip a straight onto the chin of Ramirez, who seemed like he was expecting the lead hand. One precise cross – combined with a shove – forced him to the canvas.

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At this stage in the fight, Ergashev’s punches were beginning to flow more naturally, and at the 22-second mark he unloads a beautiful jab-cross-lead hook combination, stunning his counterpart. He had well and truly found his range and was forcing a struggling Ramirez to fight at his pace.

Aside from concocting his attack with the use of his lead hand, Ergashev sets up offense through feinting, leaning over his front legs, and in some instances changing levels. By doing this he lowers the guard of his adversary, further exposing the head as a target.

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As he leans forward, Fredrickson reacts with a jab, yet finds no success as Ergashev is out of range. Ergashev then dips forward once more and after doing so, decides to commit to the straight left. He was able to land this as Fredrickson believed he was momentarily impotent (due to being past range), resulting in himself throwing another jab.

Shohjahon is able to manage distance quite well and frequently finds his timing quick, thus allowing him to take charge of the contest and keep the fight where he wants it.

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Moments after his previous blitz he attempts the same formatted attack: dip low, aim high. The difference this time is his foe doesn’t bite on the level change, causing Ergashev to throw a simple straight that is somewhat predictable.

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It’s the subtle things that bring me joy as a fan of combat sports and observing Ergashev force openings through the use of a hand immobilization attack is terrific. Watch how he uses the lead hand to pull apart the tight guard of his opponent, Zhimin Wang, who ducks to avoid taking punishment.

This is something I’d like to see Ergashev use more, as he often just pummels away at the guard with his left hand as opposed to creating real openings that would lead to more success.

As briefly spoken about with the late, great Salvador Sanchez, creating and then breaking patterns is an efficient way to set up offense, and this is something Shohjahon can be seen doing in a number of outings – not to the scale or expertise of Sanchez, though.

Remaining on his bout with Zhimin Wang, Ergashev conditioned the Chinese boxer into anticipating only two strikes following the jab: a straight left or hook. For five controlling rounds he consistently pumped out these combos, as can be seen below.

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Ergashev lets loose two jab-hook combinations.

Wang believed he had sussed this out, and when once more met with an extended arm from the Uzbeki, decided to do something other than adopt a high guard.

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Wang, although not in a position to do major damage, was still actively searching to land something. Moving past the lead hand of his foe, he attempted a jab to the body, trusting he was low enough to duck beneath the incoming cross. But that cross never came. Instead, it was an uppercut.

Ergashev drew the opposition into a false sense of security, something that many boxers and analysts know all too well about (more than me for that matter), consequently allowing the uppercut to land flush. From then on Wang remained weary of entering the pocket and appeared to be more cautious of counter strikes.

I expect Ergashev to continue using everything discussed in order to arrange his attacks, with these skills only improving as time goes on. His aggressiveness and ferocity make him stand-out in an already-packed weight class – the doors of either Regis Prograis, Jose Ramirez or Josh Taylor will likely be knocked down very soon. Any would stand as a breakthrough fight for him.

Concluding Thoughts

Shohjahon Ergashev is one to watch in the junior welterweight division, and when playing to his strengths, has the capability of making a run within the top 10. Currently, he is ranked #10 by Ring magazine, but is yet to stand across from anybody with a number next to their name.

Without putting too much of a cap on his career potential, I predict that Ergashev will hold at least one world championship belt at 140-pounds. While I think becoming unified champion is too far of a strech, I wouldn’t be surprised if he challenged for multiple titles on multiple occassions; a move to welterweight should be expected in the future, too.

Despite being a decently rated prospect there are a few issues within in his skillset, nevertheless I trust in Sugarhill Steward and his team to fix them. On top of this, I believe If Ergashev were to develop an adept in-fighting game, he could dispatch of opposition in an even more destructive fashion; as of right now he prefers to clinch when in close quarters, scarcely throwing strikes when doing so.

To conclude this breakdown, I and countless other fans remain hopeful of what the future holds for Shohjahon Ergashev, the immensely talented boxer from Uzbekistan. At the prime age of 28, forward looks to be the only way his career is heading, and rightfully so.

Future world champion or standard, everdary prospect? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.