Deontay Wilder becomes first American heavyweight champion since 2007
Deontay Wilder (33-0, 32 KO) became the 1st American to win the Heavyweight Title in over a decade. Wilder is the first to do it since Shannon Briggs held it back in 2006. He won the WBC Heavyweight Title by defeating Bermane Stiverne (24-2-1, 21 KO), who won the Title earlier in the year by knocking out Chris Arreola.
Going into the fight, there was no love loss between the two boxers. Stiverne and Wilder did not get along and that was even more evident during the media week leading up to the fight. They both trash talked and claimed they would knock the other out. However, there would be no knockout on this night.
Wilder and Stiverne went the distance answering a lot of questions. People were wondering if Wilder’s stamina could hold up if the fight went past four rounds. None of his prior bouts had gone passed the fourth round because he has knocked his opponent out either in or before the end of the fourth round. Even though the fight went the distance, Wilder showed little fatigue. Most of that was due to the fact that he was able to control the fight with his jab. Stiverne was expecting a brawl and got that in the first few rounds, but afterwards Wilder relied on his jab. His jab was on point the entire night. It messed up Stiverne’s game plan, as he was unable to cut off the ring or get inside to land any effective punches. When he did land any punches or combinations it had little to no affect on Wilder.
There were a few times during the fight when we thought that Wilder would get the knockout. Towards the end of round two, Wilder landed a few good combinations that seemed to have stunned Stiverne, but the bell saved him. Stiverne took a beating as Wilder continued to land headshot after headshot. Most of it was with the jab, which was not enough to knock Stiverne down, but it was enough to win rounds. There were some parts in the fight were Wilder was even toying with Stiverne because Stiverne was not landing his punches. You have to give Stiverne credit for not giving up, but it was not his night to be.
By the end of the fight we all knew the result. The scorecards had read 118- 109, 119-108, and 120-107 all in favor of the winner by unanimous decision, Deontay Wilder. This victory puts to bed some of the naysayers who were against Wilder because he was not facing the best of competition. This victory shows that Wilder is here and ready to take on some of the top contenders in the heavyweight division like Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. There will probably be some time before he gets to face the lineal World Heavyweight Champion, Wladimir Klitschko, but Wilder does put the heavyweight division on notice. He will be a breath of fresh air to the division with his skill and personality, which is something that has been lacking in that division for some time, especially since he is an American boxer.
In the co-main event, Leo Santa Cruz (29-0, 18 KO) defeated Jesus Ruiz (33-6-5, 22 KO) via TKO in the 8th round. Santa Cruz and Ruiz put on a nice display of bodywork early on in the fight as each boxer was landing body shots at will. Santa Cruz seemed to have more impact with his punches and eventually stopped Ruiz in the eighth round. During his post match interview, Santa Cruz announced that he wants to face Carl Frampton, Abner Mares, and Guillermo Rigondeaux. It will be interesting to see if he faces any of those fighters next.
In the opening fight, Amir Imam (16-0, 14 KO) defeated Fidel Maldonado Jr. (19-3, 16 KO) by TKO in the 5th round. This was a very fun match to watch as both fighters were brawling to start. At the very end of round two, Imam knocked Maldonado Jr. down, but Maldonado returned the favor in the third knocking Imam down. Imam countered that with two knockdowns of his own on Maldonado to end the third. Both boxers were teeing off of each other but Maldonado was starting to slow down and his punches were getting weaker. This would prove costly for Maldonado because in the fifth round, Imam dropped him with a punishing left hook. After that the referee had to stop the fight. It was a valiant effort by Maldonado, but not enough to stop the undefeated Amir Imam.
Anthony Rivera | @antrivera86
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