WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder improved his record to (40-0, 39 KOs) with a 10th round TKO victory over Luis Ortiz (28-1, 24 KOs) in front of 14,069 fans at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
This was by far the most impressive win of Deontay Wilder’s career.
The first four rounds of the fight were tactical as both men seemed wary of the other man’s power, but Ortiz controlled the action with his right jab and being the fighter that was moving forward.
But Wilder changed the dynamic of the fight in Round 5 when he stunned Ortiz with a straight hand with 15 seconds remaining in the round, and then followed up immediately with another right hand that sent Ortiz to the canvas. Ortiz got up at the count of five and the bell rang to end the round.
Ortiz would turn the moment back in his favor in Round 7 when he badly hurt Wilder with a left hand with 40 seconds remaining in the round. Ortiz would pound Wilder the remainder of the round with right hooks and left hands and seemed on the verge of knocking him out.
The champ does it again. @BronzeBomber defeats @kingkongboxing in the 10th. #WilderOrtiz pic.twitter.com/vlHlcHDEtE
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) March 4, 2018
But Wilder survived the round and composed himself once he got back to his corner.
Ortiz would press the action in round and forced Wilder to the ropes several times, but never had him hurt the way he did in the previous round.
Both men had their moments in round 9 but Wilder seemed to get the better of it when he momentarily stunner Ortiz with a straight right.
In the 10th round, nailed Ortiz with a counter right hand that stunned Ortiz, and as Ortiz tried to hold him, Wilder through him to the canvas. This gave Ortiz a few moments to recover but it didn’t help. Once he got up and the action resumed Wilder landed a flurry of combinations and knocked Ortiz down for the second time in the fight.
Ortiz would make it up at the count of nine but was clearly out on his feet. Wilder rushed in and threw a couple of more right hands and then unleased a right uppercut that sent Ortiz to the canvas again which forced referee David Fields to stop the fight.
.@BronzeBomber improves to 40-0 with a chopping TKO! #WilderOrtiz pic.twitter.com/zMHBKC6oq1
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) March 4, 2018
According to CompuBox, Wilder landed 98 of 346 punches (28 percent), and Ortiz landed 87 of 363 (24 percent).
After the fight Wilder talked about his performance.
“I just showed that I can punch on the inside as well, too,” Wilder said. “A lot of people don’t think I can punch on the inside, but I showed them. Now I can say there’s no man that stepped in the ring that I haven’t put on their ass.”
Wilder now hopes to land a fight between the winner of the unification fight on March 31 between IBF and WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and WBO champion Joseph Parker so that he can be the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
“I’m ready right now [for the Joshua-Parker winner],” Wilder said. “I always said that I want to unify. I’m ready whenever those guys are. I am the baddest man on the planet and I proved that tonight. This solidified my position at the top of the food chain.”
