In Birmingham, Alabama last night, the WBC heavyweight champion, Deontay Wilder held on to his belt with an 11th round stoppage of the French fighter Johann Duhaupus.
In holding on to his crown, Wilder takes his record to 35-0 with 34 of those 35 wins coming by way of knockout.
Ahead of the fight, it had been generally accepted that the new superstar of American heavyweight boxing would beat the Frenchman but nobody suspected that Duhaupus would provide such a stern test.
Although Wilder was unloading his big bombs the challenger marked the champions face up pretty badly as, once again, Wilder looked well open to the jab and the counter-punch as he left himself wide-open unloading his big punches.
The end came, after the referee, Jack Reiss, decided Duhaupus was taking too much punishment with fifty-five seconds of round eleven remaining.
Talking about his 35th victory Wilder had this to say,
?He did everything we expected him to.
?We knew he was mentally tough. He?s got a hell of a chin. He was very strong. I see why he?s never been stopped before. He did an excellent job and definitely had my respect.?
And as for the future, Wilder is eyeing up the multi-titled Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko, further remarking,
?Hopefully we can do it by the end of 2016.?
That remains to be seen!
Wilder Stops Duhaupus in Round 11
