Wilder destroys Ortiz to retain title
NEW YORK — Deontay Wilder was out on his feet. Forget defending his WBC heavyweight title, Wilder was lucky to find his corner when the seventh round concluded.
About 10 minutes later, he was strutting around the Barclays Center ring, his belt secure, but his reputation as being untouchable severely tarnished.
Wilder survived a pummeling from Luis Ortiz, then knocked out the challenger in the 10th round Saturday night (Sunday in Manila) to retain his crown. Befitting the undefeated champion from Alabama, it was a wild affair for the final few rounds after a dull series of pawing and gesturing by Wilder gave Ortiz a solid lead.
“A true champion always finds a way to come back and that’s what I did tonight,” Wilder said. “Luis Ortiz is definitely a crafty guy. He put up a great fight. We knew we had to wear him down. I showed everyone I can take a punch.”
Well, yeah — Wilder certainly took his share of them.
Even after Wilder knocked down Ortiz in the fifth round, the bout remained in the Cuban’s favor.
Then, in the seventh, Wilder was dazed and confused by Ortiz’s assault. Though he never hit the canvas, he stumbled to his corner when that round ended. The end seemed near.
“I almost had him and I think I would’ve if there were a few more seconds in the round,” Ortiz said. “Wilder was definitely saved by the bell. I thought I had him out on his feet. But you have to give him credit, he weathered the storm.”
Instead of folding, Wilder closed the ninth with two hard rights, and then a series of vicious combinations in the 10th started Ortiz’s downfall.
It was over with 55 seconds to go in the 10th after Ortiz went down for the second time in the round from a right uppercut and referee David Fields stopped it.
“I just had to get my range back and my fundamentals back,” Wilder said. “And I was able to do that. I showed I was a true champion tonight.”
Wilder, 32, is 40-0 with 39 knockouts. This easily was his toughest bout. Somehow, he was ahead on all three judges’ scorecards.