Deontay Wilder (35-0, 34 KOs) retained his WBC Heavyweight title with an eleventh round stoppage of Johann Duhaupas (32-3, 20 KOs) on Saturday night at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.
The contest was a one sided affair, with Wilder completely dominating the former European champion Duhaupas. In the opening round Wilder’d punches caused a cut on the bridge of Duhaupas nose, and that was only the beginning of the punishment for the Frenchman.
This was a comprehensive performance from the champion. Wilder found particular success in the fifth round, with a number of uppercuts that staggered Duhaupas in the final minute. The fight was so one-sided that by the end of the seventh the referee was warning the Duhaupas corner that the fight was at risk of being stopped.
In the tenth, Wilder unleashed a barrage of punches that backed the challenger up. Duhaupas managed to come out for the eleventh but was was met with more punishment. The referee stopped the fight when Duhaupas, who by that stage had adopted a crab pose, failed to respond to a sustained volley of hooks from the champion.
At the end, the damage inflicted by Wilder was clearly visible with Duhaupas face reduced to a bloody and bruised mess. Although he dominated, Wilder did not escape unscathed, Duhaupas had managed to land enough punches to cause a significant swelling under Wilder’s left eye.
This was Wilder’s second defence of his title following his ninth round stoppage of Eric Molina in June. Wilder’s next fight will be against his mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin (29-1, 21 KOs) who is risking his mandatory status in a fight with Mariusz Wach in November.
On the undercard, former U.S. Olympian Dominic Breazeale (16-0, 14 KOs) won a controversial ten round decision against Fred Kassi (18-4-1, 10 KOs) at heavyweight. The judges scored it 98-92, 97-93 and 100-90, but that did not reflect how Kassi frustrated Breazeale, switching his stance and landing the cleaner punches. Breazeale was able to land some punches of his own but the consensus was that a draw would have been a fair result.