Deontay Wilder successfully defended his WBC heavyweight title for the second time in a row after stopping challenger Johann Duhaupas with 55 seconds remaining in the 11th round at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala.
Wilder unloaded a flurry of punches on Duhaupas, forcing referee Jack Reiss to stop the fight and hand Wilder the knockout victory.
Both men put on quite a show, each coming out bloody as well as black and blue.
With Wilder landing about 69% of his punches (183 of 267), one could just imagine the beating Duhaupas endured. However, the challenger didn’t do so badly either.
For his part, Duhaupas landed 31% of his punches (47 of 152) on Wilder who ended the fight with a badly swelled left eye.
“I wasn’t feeling no pressure at all,” Wilder, 29, said. “I been doing this for a while now. I know it’s tough fighting at home because you want to please and entertain the crowd, but the people came out and paid their hard-earned money so they definitely want to see a show” Wilder said in a post-fight interview.
It was the second successful title defense for Wilder who won the belt from Bermaine Stiverne back in January.
When the smoke cleared, Wilder paid homage to the toughness of Duhaupas who has had his share of criticism, which Wilder says was made out of total ignorance on what his opponent actually had to offer.
“He did an excellent job and he definitely gets my respect. I see why he’s never been stopped before.”
The victory is a follow up to Wilder’s first title defense held last June. He won by TKO over Eric Molina at that time. For his part, Duhaupas fell to 32-2, 20 of which have come from knockout.
As for his next opponent, Wladimir Klitschko could be next in mind though Wilder adds that it would all depend since it has to go through a process.
“Hopefully sometime near the end of next year. We got to get these mandatories out of the way first. The key is to stay patient” says Wilder.
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