At the Barclays Centre, in Brooklyn, New York, on Saturday night, Deontay Wilder made a successful defence of his WBC world heavyweight title.
The ?Bronze Bomber, who now has a professional record that reads 39-0 with 38 of those wins coming by way of the big knockout, was matched against Bermane Stiverne, after his original opponent Luis Ortiz was forced to withdraw after failing a drugs test.
Stiverne had fought Wilder before and was, in fact, the only man to take the big-punching American the distance in a fight which saw Wilder become the WBC champion.
At the weigh-in, ahead of the fight, Stiverne tipped the scales the heaviest he has ever been, with a spare tyre clearly visible around his waist, he?d also not fought for almost two-years, to the bystander it looked as if Stiverne?s best days were well behind him.
That proved to be exactly the case when the bell for the sound of the first round rang with Wilder catching Stiverne with some brutal punches, including a devastating left-right combination that saw the challenger hit the canvas.
Stiverne, bravely, or foolishly, beat the count only to be caught with some more power punches that knocked him out with just second of the opening round left.
An emphatic defence by Wilder but you have to question whether Stiverne really believed he ever had a chance of beating the ?Bronze Bomber? despite taking him to a points decision in their first encounter.
WBC Champ Wilder KO?S Stiverne in Round One
