With the lead up to the fight focusing on possible knockout situations, the Bermane Stiverne–Deontay Wilder bout had its huge shots, but the fight went the full 12 Rounds, with the ‘Bronze Bomber’ winning via unanimous decision.
Wilder drew scores of 118-109, 119-108 and 120-107, scores that no one at ringside or at home could argue with.
There were several times in the bout that Wilder (33-0, 32 KOs) rocked Stiverne (24-2-1, 21 KOs), buckling his knees, but besides an after round fall to the canvas in Round 2, Stiverne took what Wilder threw at him, but was thoroughly dominated Saturday night.
With how action-packed the first few rounds were, when the big men tired out toward the latter rounds, the crowd of 8,453 at the MGM Grand started raining down boos on the heavyweights.
With the big win Wilder became the first American heavyweight champion since Shannon Briggs in 2006.
“I’m so excited,” Wilder said in his post-fight interview. “Happy to bring back the back to America, officially.”
The jab was Wilder’s best friend in the bout, as he used to to control the distance much of the bout, utilizing his 83″ reach.
Despite a few times where he was fighting going backwards, that led him to be on the ropes, where Stiverne landed his biggest shots, Wilder did a good job of staying out of harms way.
With his big time head shots, Wilder could up his fight game by going to the body more, especially against fighters who are softer in the midsection such as Stiverne is.
Silencing critics that thought he could fight much past Round 5, let alone a full 12, Wilder showed he is more than a power puncher.
“I think I proved a lot,” Wilder said. “I knew we could go 12 rounds… and take a punch.”
Before Wilder sets his sights on Wladimir Klitschko, he should fight two or three more fights against top-level competition, and he had his sights set on one in particular in his post-fight press conference; Tyson Fury.
Stiverne took a ton of shots that would likely have dropped any of the other 32 opponents Wilder faced before, but he never really got anything of substance off.
“It wasn’t my night,” Stiverne said. “I didn’t feel 100 percent. Once I got in the ring, I couldn’t cur the ring. Couldn’t move my head like normal.”
Even though he said he didn’t feel at his best he gave Wilder full credit for his big win Saturday night.
“I won’t take anything away from him,” Stiverne said. “I just wasn’t able to do what I wanted and needed to do.”
It will be back to the drawing board for Stiverne, as he still has more to prove in the sport, but at the age of 36 years old, he must act quick. Stiverne has only fought seven times since 2010, if he wants to salvage his career, he must get back in the ring again this year to build up momentum once again.
With the unanimous decision win, Wilder’s streak of winning every professional bout he’s been in ended at 32, but not getting a KO this time around didn’t matter to the Alabama-native.
“I couldn’t care less I didn’t score a KO,” Wilder said. “What better way to whoop a man than a 12-round whooping.”
