With eye on unification, Wilder dominates

dangerous I become.”

Wilder’s promoter, Lou DiBella, said that no heavyweight has ever had as high a knockout percentage as Wilder has at 97.4%.

“The power is real,” Wilder said with a smile.

“As the guy who holds the mitts (during training) — I’m one of four guys who holds the mitts,” said Wilder’s manager and cotrainer, Jay Deas. “He’s the only guy in the world who has four mitt men because of the damage he’s done. He hit me up under the body protector, and I had to have hernia surgery. He dislocated (another coach’s) thumb, he dislocated (head coach) Mark Breland’s shoulder.

“It is for real, trust me, and that’s with 20-ounce gloves.”

To really hurt someone like Washington, a Navy veteran and former University of Southern California football player, you have to hit him flush and with serious force. Wilder waited until the fifth round to do that.

He did his best to wear down his 34-year-old opponent for four-plus rounds, then pounced mid-fight, as has become his custom these days.

This is a man who was coming off surgeries to repair a broken right hand and torn right biceps muscle. Though Wilder wouldn’t say it, that might have been a factor in his landing only 33 of 113 punches over the four-plus rounds. But he landed nine power shots in the fifth round after landing 11 total in the previous four rounds.

Afterward, Wilder said his right hand and arm felt great. No problems.

One of the men he needs to fight to unify at least two of the four major heavyweight belts, undefeated New Zealander and WBO champion Joseph Parker, was sitting ringside. Wilder said he greeted Parker after the fight, but there was no trash talk or calling out.

“Like I say, I have the WBC ( belt), Parker has the WBO; we can unify those belts, (England’s Anthony) Joshua and (Wladimir) Klitschko (will fight for) the WBA and IBF belts.

“So whoever has those belts, at the end of the year, you fight for them. It’s brilliant to have two and two and to fight to unify the division.”