Deontay "The Bronze Bomber" Wilder secured an 8th round TKO over challenger Chris Arreola on Fox's PBC boxing card Saturday night in the Wilders's home state of Alabama.
Wilder (37-0, 31 KO), began slowly picking apart his overmatched foe from the fight's opening bell, and continually increased the pace as the scuffle progressed into the fourth round.
The 4th stanza saw Wilder put on a show for his adoring fans, gyrating his hips a-la "Ravishing" Rick Rude, while Arreola (36-5-1, 31 KO) flailed meaningless body shots to Deontay's sides. Later in the round, the WBC Heavyweight title holder caught Arreola with a hard right, followed by a couple more solid shots that sent the underdog stumbling to the mat. He beat the count and managed to survive the round, but at this point Wilder had solidified control of the fight.
Entering the fifth round, it was obvious Wilder was having a physical issue, as he completely refrained from utilizing his right hand. One handed, the champ continued to land clean shots on Arreola until his corner stopped the bout after the 8th round with the contender's left eye swollen shut and nose a bloody mess.
After the bout, it was discovered that the WBC titlist broke his right hand and tore his right bicep at some point in the fourth round. While he will be sidelined with the injuries, it didn't stop Wilder from calling out fellow title holders Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua immediately after the fight. Either of these will be huge for the division, and boxing is due for a rebirth of competitive Heavyweight fights.
On the undercard, junior middleweight prospect Erickson Lubin absolutely demolished opponent Ivan Montero on his way to scorecards of 80-72 on each scorecard. Lubin was never in any real trouble in this one, and cruised to an easy decision victory against a completely overwhelmed fighter in Montero. Lubin (16-0, 11 KO) has shown some real promise as he climbs the ranks and could be fighting for a title very soon.
The opening bout of the night featured welterweight Felix Diaz handing contender Sammy Vasquez his first loss as a professional, but not without controversy. While Vasquez (21-1, 15 KO) looked solid in the first few rounds, the thudding shots of Diaz (18-1, 8 KO) piled up, leading to the late replacement completely controlling the rest of the fight with hard left hooks and repeated power shots.
The score cards originally came out as a robbery of a majority draw, with one card showing 96-94, and two scores of 95-95. However it was swiftly discovered that the point taken away from Vasquez for spitting out his mouth piece in the 12th was not deducted, leading to the telecast regrouping and awarding the rightful victory to Diaz on scores of 96-94 and two cards of 95-94.
By Darrin Doyle
