Wilder retains WBC title with Szpilka KO
Print Edition
American heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder defended his WBC title with a knockout of Artur Szpilka in Brooklyn, New York, on Saturday.
More drama followed the contest when WBA and WBO heavyweight champion Tyson Fury climbed into the ring and said he wanted to fight Wilder in a unification bout.
Szpilka, who was bidding to become Poland’s first world heavyweight champion, made it a close battle before absorbing a tough right hand to the chin with 2:24 left in the 9th round.
Szpilka (20-2) was unconscious for a few moments before recovering following the bout.
Wilder (36-0) displayed his power yet again and has now knocked out 35 opponents in 36 fights. “He was definitely a crafty guy,” Wilder said later. “I haven’t competed against a southpaw in three years. He was a tough competitor, but you’re fighting for a world title. It’s not supposed to be easy. I’m surprised it took that long, but we had 12 rounds and they all can’t be pretty.”
Wilder is the first American heavyweight champion in nearly a decade.
In an earlier showdown, Charles Martin won the IBF heavyweight world championship after Vyacheslav Glazkov suffered a reported torn right ACL injury in the third round and had to retire from the match.
Martin (23-0-1) becomes the second current American heavyweight titlist. Glazkov (21-1-1), a previously unbeaten Ukrainian, slipped early in the third and never recovered.
In London, former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye’s first fight in 3 1/2 years lasted barely two minutes when he knocked out Mark de Mori at the 02 Arena on Saturday.
Haye, returning from a career-threatening shoulder injury at his heaviest ever, finished off De Mori with combinations to the head, just 2 minutes, 11 seconds into the 10-rounder.
De Mori (30-2-2) was limited and sluggish, and the Australian was unable to show whether Haye (27-2, 25 KO) was ring rusty or had shortcomings.
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