Deontay Wilder Unloads Kitchen To Stop Game Duhaupas

by David P. Greisman

One man’s face began to bleed in the first round. The other man’s left eye started to swell up by the end of the second. And that was just the beginning.

By the end, Deontay Wilder had fought through a brave effort from Johann Duhaupas, unleashing hard shots and taking a few in return en route to an 11th-round technical knockout victory, the second successful defense of his World Boxing Council heavyweight title.

Duhaupas was willing to absorb heavy punishment as he tried to land his own punches on Wilder. It’s a good thing that Duhaupas was able to absorb it, as Wilder was quite willing to oblige.

Duhaupas came forward from the outset, trying to make Wilder uncomfortable and seeking to keep the power-puncher from being able to plant his feet as often. Duhaupas approached from behind a peek-a-boo defense, though, rather than closing the distance with punches, and that allowed Wilder to throw jabs, looping right hand leads, and one-two combinations before moving once again. Before the halfway point of the first round, a cut had opened up on the bridge of Duhaupas' nose. Wilder was doing decently defensively as well, dodging much of what Duhaupas delivered.

Duhaupas remained tenacious in the second round, using his jab a bit more and attempting right hands upstairs that tended to miss their mark. Duhaupas also went to the body on occasion. Still, the aggression paid dividends, as Wilder's left eye began to close up with swelling. Wilder continued to move and work with a jab followed by a right hand, and he went to Duhaupas' body as well.

Wilder was the more gifted athlete in terms of power and speed, but Duhaupas was determined. Wilder needed to take that determination away, and he attempted to do just that in the third round with an explosion on offense, an extended flurry of shots that had Duhaupas covering up before he finally attempted to respond. Duhaupas survived and went on to have a better fourth round, a round that two of the three judges scored for him.

It was the only round Duhaupas officially won on the night.

Still, there was a question of whether Wilder would slow down. He had not gone past four rounds before the start of this year, though he’d finished the full 12-round distance in picking up the world title from Bermane Stiverne in January, and he’d survived wobbly moments before ending Eric Molina in nine rounds in June. There also was the uncertainty of how that swollen eye would affect Wilder and make him easier to hit, especially as Wilder continued to move to where his vision was compromised, to his left and toward Duhaupas’ right hand.

But again, Wilder turned up his output at an opportune moment. In the fifth Wilder landed a good right uppercut and then broke out with a barrage, including multiple hooks and even uppercuts reminiscent of those Lennox Lewis through against Michael Grant, in which Wilder’s left glove cradled Duhaupas’ head or neck, holding it in place for the right uppercut.

Wilder did enough damage in the fifth that referee Jack Reiss told Duhaupas he needed to show Reiss something in the sixth. Duhaupas appeared to be slowing down in that round. But then Wilder began to slow down his own output in the seventh and eighth. Duhaupas worked when Wilder didn’t. He continued to fight and was still standing.

Wilder was still clearly winning. Even in his slower rounds, he outlanded Duhaupas by a significant margin, according to CompuBox.

Duhaupas, again, was there to be hit — though not always. Wilder aimed for the head and seemingly nothing but in the ninth, and Duhaupas ducked under a number of them, bobbing down and up with left hook counters on a couple of occasions. They didn’t hurt Wilder, nor were they a sign that the tide of the fight was turning.

Rather, the sign that the fight could soon be ending came toward the end of the 10th, when Wilder went from showboating in front of Duhaupas to unleashing another onslaught of shots that had the 34-year-old from France covering up.

Duhaupas again survived. The fight wouldn’t last much longer.

Reiss had the ringside physician check on Duhaupas between rounds. He was keeping an eye on the fighter, and when Wilder snapped Duhaupas’ head back with a right hand early in the 11th and then followed up with a number of shots, the referee had good cause to step in. The end came 55 seconds into the round.

Wilder landed more than half his punches on the night, connecting on 326 of 587, a 56 percent connect rate. That included 143 of 320 on the jab (45 percent) and a ridiculous 183 of 267 (69 percent) with power punches.

“He got a hell of a chin,” Wilder said afterward.

Duhaupas never went down. On offense he was persistent but not effective, going just 98 of 332 (30 percent) on the night, including 51 of 180 (28 percent) with jabs and 47 of 152 (31 percent) with power punches.

It was the third loss for Duhaupas, whose record now reads 32-3 with 20 wins by knockout. His other defeats came on decision losses to Francisco Pianeta in 2008 and Erkan Teper this past March. He was tough, but tough wasn’t going to be enough.

Wilder, who turns 30 in October, was fighting for the second straight time in Birmingham, Alabama, just about an hour up the road from his hometown of Tuscaloosa. He moves to 35-0 with 34 KOs and remains a work in progress as a heavyweight titleholder, albeit a fun one to watch.

Wilder has said his goal is to become the undisputed heavyweight champion. To do that, he’d need to defeat Wladimir Klitschko, who is the current champion and owner of the three other major world titles, or whomever beats Klitschko first, if anyone ever does. Wilder didn’t sound like he was in a hurry to face Klitschko, saying that the more time passes the older Klitschko (presently 39) gets. Wilder said that would only favor the younger man.

And Wilder also owes a mandatory defense to Alexander Povetkin first. Povetkin, 36, has bounced back from a one-sided loss to Klitschko in late 2013 by scoring three straight knockouts over Manuel Charr, Carlos Takam and Mike Perez. He would be the most accomplished opponent by far that Wilder has faced yet.

Povetkin has a Nov. 4 fight with Mariusz Wach. Wilder will return to the gym and will continue to try to improve.

He may not be ready for Povetkin just yet. But he will need to be rather soon.

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