Wild-man Wilder eyes Parker fight
Deontay Wilder showed true champion instincts to retain his WBC world heavyweight title and then offered Joseph Parker huge encouragement as the outspoken American continued to talk up his role in the unification equation.
Rocked by giant Cuban Luis Ortiz in the seventh round in New York yesterday, Wilder recovered to find his range and demolish his challenger with a TKO two minutes and five seconds into the 10th round.
He had earlier put Ortiz on the canvas in the fifth round before having his own problems. But Wilder’s finishing work was genuinely impressive – combinations of his trademark straight rights and left hooks had Ortiz down twice in the 10th round, with the decisive blow a vicious right uppercut that forced the referee to intervene.
A jubilant Wilder immediately turned his attention to Parker’s fight with Anthony Joshua in Cardiff on April 1 (NZT) where the Kiwi puts his WBO belt on the line and the big Brit puts his IBF and WBA titles up as the division works towards one champion.
‘‘I’m ready right now . . . my goal is to unify,’’ Wilder said when asked about fighting the winner of Parker v Joshua.
Asked if he felt Parker had a chance, Wilder declared: ‘‘Parker has a 100 per cent chance of winning. ‘‘He has to be smart and stick to the game plan. In this ring it’s not about how much a person weighs, or about how big a person’s muscles is, it’s about heart, that dog that he’s going to bring to the fight.’’
Wilder felt that was his recipe for taking his record to 40-0 with 39 KOs by finishing off the previously unbeaten Ortiz.
‘‘True champions always find a way to come back and that’s what I did,’’ Wilder said of getting past his mid-fight wobbles, when he was clearly hanging on.
‘‘I showed I can take a punch. They weren’t hard, they didn’t have sting but the knocked me off balance,’’ he said of Ortiz’s combinations.
He also relished some closequarter combat with Ortiz.
‘‘I showed that I can punch on the inside as well,’’ he said.
‘‘I am the most dangerous man in the world, I am the baddest man on the planet. And I proved that tonight. This solidifies my position at the top of the foodchain. Soon there will be one champion, one face, one name, and he goes by the name of Deontay Wilder.’’
Wilder also felt his showing would silence critics who have questioned his opponents’ calibre.
‘‘This was a signature win against a Luis Ortiz who everyone in the division has ducked. Luis Ortiz is definitely a crafty guy.
‘‘We knew we had to wear him down and he was a great opponent. When he leaves tonight he ain’t got nothing to worry about. He can hold his head up high. We gave our fans their money’s worth.’’
Ortiz will lament his inability to finish Wilder, who looked to be virtually out on his feet before the bell ended the seventh round. Still, he showed good all-round skills and dominated much of the fight.
But the judges revealed they had Wilder ahead 85-84 at the end of the ninth round.
That should tell Parker that total domination is needed to beat a champion in his own backyard.
‘‘I am the most dangerous man in the world, I am the baddest man on the planet.’’
Deontay Wilder, left