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Philippines, 19 Feb 2026 |
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?King? Wilder tames ?King Kong? in an electrifying Heavyweight battle in Brooklyn By Rich Mazon PhilBoxing.com Sun, 04 Mar 2018  Brooklyn, New York - Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder predicted an early knockout against fellow unbeaten challenger Luis Ortiz at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. On the other side of the ring, a reserved Luis Ortiz looked to knock out and silence down his outspoken opponent. What resulted was a zingy and seesaw battle for the World Boxing Council (WBC) Heavyweight crown between two big boys of boxing ending with an exciting knockout that had the arena crowd of fourteen thousand at their feet. Wilder stopped Ortiz in the the 10th round of their championship contest to successfully defend his belt and remain king of the WBC heavyweight kingdom. But the victory did not come easy for the still undefeated Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs) who was accustomed to dominating his past opponents early en route to a KO. He was on the defensive in the first three rounds of their bout perhaps wary of his opponent?s power. And when Wilder tasted the power of his bigger and heavier challenger, the reigning champ had to dig deep in his arsenal to survive a scary round seven that saw Ortiz go berserk - raining a flurry of punches that had Wilder dazed and crouched by the ropes. A stunned but calm Wilder escaped the round only to see himself again at the end of Ortiz?s heavy hands in the 8th. Wilder boxed effectively to slow down Ortiz?s advances and regained his composure as the round ended. The champ who scored a knockdown in the 5th with his big right hand, used it again in the final seconds of the 9th to come back from another Ortiz-dominated round. The challenger stalked him but was unable to pin him down for another set of attack. It was Wilder?s turn to go wild in the 10th round, he hurt and dropped Ortiz with a flurry of unanswered punches in the first minute of the round. Ortiz was down in all fours after the punishment but managed to get up to his feet to beat the count. But Ortiz did not last and was down and out after a vicious uppercut from Wilder. Referee David Fields saw Ortiz go down like cold timber and he called the stoppage right after. ?A true champion always finds a way to come back and that?s what I did tonight. Luis Ortiz is definitely a crafty guy. He put up a great fight. We knew we had to wear him down. I showed everyone I can take a punch,? was Wilder?s assessment of his triumphant performance. Wilder also praised Ortiz who suffered his first career defeat (28-1, 24 KOs) and stated that the Cuban challenger can hold his head high after his strong showing tonight. ?Luis Ortiz was one of those fighters that everyone ducked, even champions ducked him. I wondered why it took so long for him to get a title shot and now we know.? Ortiz who failed to become the first heavyweight champion from Cuba thought that he almost had Wilder done in the 7th if he had few more seconds to spare. He credited the champion for ?weathering the storm? and hoped for a rematch in the future. ?It was a great fight and I performed well. I thought I was up on the scorecard going in to the (tenth) round, but it?s heavyweight boxing and you never know what?s going to happen,? Ortiz said. Their fight might have been exciting but the public clamor is for Wilder to fight another undefeated champion who resides across the pond - IBF and WBA?s Anthony Joshua of Great Britain. Joshua is slated to fight another unbeaten champ - WBO?s Joshua Parker (24-0, 18 KOs) in Wales later this month. ?I?m ready right now. 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 tonight.? Wilder vs Joshua would be a giant event for the sport. You can reach the author at rrmaze24@aol.com and @Freemazon910 on Twitter. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rich Mazon .  |
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