Stephan Shaw took a big step in the direction of redemption, knocking out Raphael Akpejiori in one round Saturday night at Maryland Live Casino in Hanover, Maryland.

Shaw, 21-2 (16 KOs), rocked Akpejiori, 18-2 (17 KOs), about 20 seconds into the first with an overhand right and two left hooks, and then sent him down with a left hook-right hand combo. The fight was stopped without a count as Akpejiori was knocked stiff onto the ring apron.

The official time was 33 seconds of the first.

Shaw, 32, of St. Louis, has now won three straight since he suffered back-to-back losses to Efe Ajagba and Joseph Goodall in 2023. Akpejiori, 34, of Miami, saw his own three-fight winning streak snapped.

The fight was the co-featured bout on Saturday’s ProBox TV card.

Earlier in the night, David “The Body Snatcher” Whitmire, 10-0 (7 KOs), snatched another body, becoming the first to knock out spoiler Roberto Gomez, of Mexico, in their six-round scheduled welterweight fight. Whitmire, 20, of Washington, D.C. dropped Gomez, 5-5 (5 KOs), with a counter right hand before a flurry of punches compelled Gomez’s corner to throw in the towel at the time of 1 minute, 56 seconds.

Gomez, 33, had previously gone the distance with Olympic gold medalist Erislandy Alvarez and scored a brutal knockout of previously unbeaten prospect Quadir Albright.

Whitmire is trained and managed by former middleweight title challenger Andrew Council.

Jordan Roach, the younger brother of WBA junior lightweight titleholder Lamont Roach Jnr, overcame a determined challenge from Filipino journeyman Garen Diagan to win a six-round unanimous decision in a junior bantamweight fight. All three judges scored the fight 59-55 in favor of Upper Marlboro, Maryland’s Roach, who improved to 4-0 (1 KO).

Diagan, of General Santos City, Philippines, fell to his fourth straight defeat.

Junior lightweight prospect Francois Scarboro Jnr, 10-0 (8 KOs), of Cheverly, Maryland, scored a big knockout in his scheduled eight-round fight, knocking out Victor Manuel Lopez Gala, 6-2 (3 KOs), at 2 minutes, 59 seconds of Round 5.

Scarboro, 28, dropped Mexico’s Gala with an overhand right before a follow-up flurry sent him down again, bringing an end to the fight.

William Foster III scored his second straight victory, outpointing Brandon Benitez over 10 rounds in a junior lightweight fight. Two judges scored the fight 100-90, while the third had it 98-92, all in favor of Foster, 19-2 (11 KOs), of New Haven, Connecticut..

Foster, 31, is seeking to rebuild momentum in his career, which had previously seen him defeat the previously unbeaten Edwin De Los Santos before he was derailed by decision losses to Henry Lebron and Eridson Garcia.

Benitez, 21-4 (9 KOs), of Queretaro, Mexico has now lost two straight.

Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.