Deontay Wilder retains title with devastating KO of Artur Szpilka

Deontay Wilder is the first American to hold a legitimate World Heavyweight Title since Shannon Briggs held the WBO title in 2007.

WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (36-0, 35 KOs) scored a devastating 9th round knockout win over #8 WBC challenger Artur Szpilka (20-2, 15 KOs) to retain his WBC title in a close fight on Showtime Championship Boxing at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Charles Martin knocks down Vyacheslav Glazkov, of Ukraine, right, in the during the third round of a IBF heavyweight title boxing match Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016, in NY. Also, YouTube will stream the fight live online. Again, Glazkov goes down but there doesn’t seem like a punch landed.

The two almost came to blows in a pre-fight photo-op, and Szpilka’s only loss was against contender Bryant Jennings.

The lingering question about just how good Wilder really is takes on new urgency since the seismic shift in the heavyweight division. Szpilka has a strong following in Chicago and you can bet your bottom dollar the polish community will show up in full-force to support their guy.

Despite his undefeated record and.971% knockout ratio, Wilder can not escape his more than fair share of detractors when it comes to ranking him among today’s upper-tier heavyweights.

As a result, Wladimir was the unofficial “undisputed” champion until he recently dropped his titles to Tyson Fury in November 2015. “I’m enjoying being the WBC heavyweight champion of the world and I’m not looking forward to losing my baby ever”. I think he’ll look comfortable it’s just if he wants to look that good. Szpilka was getting his jab going, landing a few shots while Wilder was coming forward with a lot of pressure.

“Add to that Wilder’s larger than life personality, his 6’7” frame, his chiseled physique, and his willingness to fight anyone and everyone put in front of him, and you have a Heavyweight fighter actually deserving of his crown – exceedingly rare in a division as criticized for as long and as often as Heavyweight Boxing has been. I don’t know what [Glazkov] was doing. For Wilder, who is in the conversation as to who is the baddest heavyweight in professional boxing…style points matter for him regarding his perception as being an elite fighter. “But I love a challenge”, Wilder said. Szpilka will likely have a loud and boisterous group of fans in attendance in Brooklyn which may give him some additional motivation on Saturday, but Wilder’s power advantage and size advantage in combination with a deeper amateur background will be too much for Szpilka to handle.

Wilder needs more than a win. Then Wilder will get the chance to get serious about his quest. But when Klitschko exercised his right to the immediate rematch, Fury was not able to honor the mandatory defense.

There was more, but you get the gist. Glazkov only has thirteen stoppage victories, and only two of his past five victories did not go to the scorecards.