Raw, viciously powerful, awkward, utterly unpredictable and oh, so hard to train for Vs. composed, thunderingly powerful, steady and liable to gas out: which wins?
This is the heavyweight question that needs answering and soon.
It’s unbeaten Deontay Wilder, 39-0(38) and the reigning WBC heavyweight king against unbeaten Anthony Joshua, 20-0(20) and the reigning WBA and IBF king.
WBC heavyweight king Deontay Wilder scored that quite special thing this past Saturday night: a first-round knockout in a world heavyweight title fight. It’s a sight to behold: one man, defending or challenging for the (one-time) biggest prize in sports and putting on an utterly destructive performance that sees him walk away the victor inside a mere three-minutes.
Unbeaten Brooklyn bomber, or “Big Baby,” Jarrell Miller is in action this Saturday night, against another big guy in Mariusz Wach. Miller, one of the most prominent trash-talkers in the game today, is chasing a world title shot and the man he really wants to get in a ring with is WBA/IBF ruler Anthony Joshua.
Speaking with Sky Sports once again, Miller, 19-0-1(17) questioned both Joshua’s mental strength and the fact that he has gone from 220 or so pounds at the start of his pro career, to 254 against Carlos Takam just over a week ago.
Former welterweight champ Shawn Porter never disappoints. Last night on the under-card of the Wilder-Stiverne rematch blowout, Porter decisioned a game Adrian Granados over 12 in an eliminator. Porter, who won by scores of 117-111 X3, is now 28-2-1(17). Granados, another warrior who is always involved in good action fights, is now 18-6-2(12).
Porter had one thing on his mind prior to last night’s imporatnt win and he has one thing on his mind now: a return fight with Keith Thurman. As fans know all too well, Thurman and Porter went to war in a great, great action fight in June of 2016, and Porter, having dropped a close 12 round decision, instantly made it clear that he wanted a rematch. With last night’s ninth round win Porter won yet another final eliminator for the WBC welterweight title Thurman currently holds, along with the WBA belt.
Well, Deontay Wilder sure made Bermane Stivere eat his words last night in their basically pointless return fight. Ahead of the rematch, former WBC champ Stiverne boldly stated how “No-one ever knocks me out. It isn’t gonna happen.”
It did happen, though, inside the very first-round last night in New York as a rampaging, viciously determined Wilder absolutely crushed his sixth title challenger, scoring three knockdowns in rapid fashion. Whether or not Wilder’s critics will have been impressed with the win, the 38th KO win picked up by Wilder in his 39 pro wins, is another matter. Stiverne, in poor physical condition, was a slow and easy target, some will say, adding how Wilder simply could not miss. Still, Wilder has sickening power and until anyone beats him he has every right to claim he is “The Man” at heavyweight.
Might we have seen the end of two formerly formidable, now faded heavyweights last night? We’ve surely seen the last of Bermane Stiverne, who has no possible way back from the quick first-round blitzing he fell victim to against WBC ruler Deontay Wilder, and we may have seen the end of British heavyweight Dereck Chisora – at least at top level.
Former welterweight world champion Shawn Porter (28-2-1, 17 KOs) defeated Adrian Granados (18-6-2, 11 KOs) via unanimous decision (scored 117-111 by all three judges) in an exciting fight between two all-action competitors that served as the co-featured event of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING. The victory makes Porter the mandatory title challenger for unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman’s WBC belt.
WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (12-0, 10 KOs) looked great in smashing Trent Broadhurst (20-2, 12 KOs) by a 1st round knockout on Saturday night in the Russian fighter’s first defense of his title at the Salle Medecin in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Televised by HBO Boxing, Bivol landed a straight right hand to the chin of Broadhurst in the finals seconds of round 1 to score a 1st round knockout. A bleeding a badly hurt Broadhurst stayed down on his back a long time before he finally got back to his feet.
Sergey Lipinets (13-0, 10 KOs) earned the vacant IBF Junior Welterweight World Championship with a unanimous decision victory over Japanese veteran Akihiro Kondo (29-7-1, 16 KOs). The judges scored the fight 118-110, 117-111 and 117-111.
The back-and-forth 12-round world championship fight saw Lipinets control the early rounds with a diversified, creative attack targeting Kondo’s body. An accidental clash of heads in the sixth round, which opened up a deep cut on the forehead of Lipinets, altered the momentum of the fight as Kondo gained confidence and was able to land some powerful punches to the head and body of Lipinets. The 28-year old Lipinets, who earned the title in just his 13th professional fight, was able to regain control in the later rounds to earn the unanimous win.
Wow!!!! I’m still a little stunned at what I just saw. Today is November 4th. The time is 10:51 central time. I just witnessed a 1 round destruction of Bermane Stiverne by Deontay Wilder. Wilder looked phenomenal tonight. He looked calm, composed and calculating. A lion stalking his prey. He pounced and pounced in a hurry. From the opening bell everything Wilder did had bad intentions written all over it. Even his jab looked mean.
As I watched the fight I turned to my fiance’ and said Wilder looks like he wants to take him out. Which he did in violent dominating fashion. However it was how he went about the k.o. that impressed me the most. Given the heated trash talk and legitimate bad blood between the two men I expected Wilder to come out swinging from the outset. However Wilder started aggressive yet measured.