After a thrilling fight against Tyson Fury last December that ended in a draw, WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder returned to work with a massive performance against Dominic Breazeale, one that didn't even last three minutes.
It only took Wilder a couple of minutes to knock out Breazeale, his mandatory challenger, in the main event of a Showtime-televised card from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Wilder ended the fight a little more than two minutes into the first round with a devastating right hand to Breazeale's chin that knocked him out.
The fight saw Wilder throw his signature right hand and land 1-2 combinations that immediately hurt Breazeale. Wilder pressured a staggered Breazeale to the corner and nearly stopped him before Breazeale fought his way back to the center of the ring. Wilder then used a left jab to set up a right hand to Breazeale that sent him to the canvas. Breazeale was slow to get up and was not able to beat the referee's 10-count awarding Wilder the win.
After the fight, Wilder spoke about a rematch against Fury and a potential unification fight against unified WBA, WBO and IBF champion Anthony Joshua. Wilder simply responded by saying that those fights will happen someday. As soon as Wilder's interview with Showtime ended, former title challenger Luis Ortiz, who nearly stopped Wilder in 2018 when the two faced off in a heavyweight title bout in Brooklyn, stepped into the ring to get a word in. Ortiz, who has won his last three fights since losing to Wilder, told Showtime he wants a rematch against Wilder.
The win was Wilder's ninth successful heavyweight title defense, putting him in elite company. Wilder joins Tommy Burns, Joe Louis, Joe Frazier, Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko as the only heavyweight champions to have nine successful, consecutive defenses.
