Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder remained undefeated on Saturday night (March 3) and retained his WBC title, after knocking out Luis Ortiz.
In the main event at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs) finished his challenger in spectacular fashion in the 10th round, when he unleasehd a ferocious assault that floored Ortiz twice and forcing referee David Fields to stop the fight.
“A true champion always finds a way to come back and that’s what I did tonight,” said Wilder. “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.”
“He was hitting me with those furious punches but they didn’t have sting on them,” he continued. “He was throwing combos that knocked me off balance. I just had to get my range back and my fundamentals back. And I was able to do that. I showed I was a true champion tonight.”
Oritz (28-1, 24 KOs) look as if he was going to hand wilder his first loss in the 7th round, when he landed a strong counter right that stunned the champ, which he followed with a barrage of punches.
Somehow, Wilder remained on his feet and weathered the storm that continued into the 8th round.
In the 9th, the tide began to change, when Wilder hit Ortiz with a straight right that knocked him off balance, and followed with a big combo. Still, both fighters came out strong in the 10th round, with both landing big shots that wobbled each other.
In the end, Wilder came out victorious.
After the fight, a disappointed Ortiz said: “It was a great fight and I performed well. I thought I was up on the scorecard going into the tenth round, but it’s heavyweight boxing and you never know what’s going to happen.”
“I almost had him and I think I would’ve if there were a few more seconds in the round,” he added.