Deontay Wilder came to conquer and left little doubt. He is the WBC heavyweight champion and left no doubt about it with a quick first round stoppage over Dominic Breazeale Saturday night. The 13,181 in attendance at Barclays Center also know this was a champion that came in the ring to do business.
The business of finishing off a challenger that wanted this title shot went quicker than expected. Perhaps that look from Deontay Wilder after his commanding knockout at 2:15 of round 1 was also the aggression of the champion.
He wants to be the best in this heavyweight division. Deontay Wilder in his 9th title defense of the championship, fourth in Brooklyn, could be determined as the best. A right hand that may be as dominant as any other former heavyweight champion will leave no debate, and after this night who is to question the power and magnitude of Deontay Wilder?
“Everything just came out of me tonight,” Wilder said. “I know it’s been a big build up. There’s been a lot of animosity and a lot of words that were said and it just came out of me tonight. That’s what makes boxing so great.”
There were words leading up to this fight, death in the vocabulary coming from the champion to his challenger. This was no build up. There was animosity with Dominic Breazeale. There was a challenge and an altercation in a hotel lobby with Wilder’s younger brother and Breazeale a while back.
But this is boxing and all the hate, the angry words. they seem to go away. It’s a part of the game and more so after a dominant victory as this one was.
“Just told Breazeale I love him and of course I want to see him go home to his family,” Wilder said. “I know we say some things, but when you can fight a man and then you can hug him and kiss him, I wish the world was like that. We shake hands and we live to see another day and that’s what it’s all about.”
So you see, there is a good side to Deontay Wilder. But this still does not answer questions about the word of death to his opponent that caused the WBC to reprimand their heavyweight champion.
Breazeale, whose only two defeats have now come against both Wilder and IBF/ WBA heavyweight champion AnthonyJoshua, was disappointed he wasn’t allowed to continue the fight.
“I think the ref stopped it a little early because I could hear him saying seven and eight, but that’s boxing,” said Breazeale. “He did his job and kept us safe for our next fight.
“I got on my feet and had my legs under me. It’s the heavyweight division so there’s going to big shots from guys with power. This was a situation where he landed the big right hand before I did. I thought I was going to come on in the later rounds. I’ll be back and go for the heavyweight title again.”
Credit: Tom Casino/Showtime
There was a definite message and it was delivered in the ring. A powerful right that shook Breazeale and a much quicker ending than was expected. But in the end this is a heavyweight champion who is determined and on that mission.
A bout with Anthony Joshua is still on the horizon. That is the heavyweight fight boxing fans want and it could happen. It’s just a matter of specifics with the promoters and respective networks. Joshua will defend his portions of the heavyweight title at Madison Square Garden in two weeks at Madison Square Garden against Andy Ruiz.
And if everything works to plan, as expected, it will be Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua on that quest to make more sense of a heavyweight division that once was the face of boxing.
They are one step closer to getting that one and only heavyweight champion. Saturday night, Deontay Wilder, 41-0-1, 40 KO’s, made a statement. He came to finish the business of establishing himself as the heavyweight champion.
But that mission is still on the agenda of being the one and only heavyweight champion. The aggression? Perhaps more of that needs to be answered and Anthony Joshua could be the next victim with a lot at risk.
Rich Mancuso is a regular contributor at NY Sports Day, covering countless New York Mets, Yankees, and MLB teams along with some of the greatest boxing matches over the years. He is an award winning sports journalist and previously worked for The Associated Press, New York Daily News, Gannett, and BoxingInsider.com, in a career that spans almost 40 years.
