Photo by Stephanie Trap/Showtime Sports
Deontay Wilder (33-0, 32 KOs) returned to his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, to knockout Eric Molina (23-2, 17 KOs) in Round 9 of the first successful defense of his WBC Heavyweight title at the Bartow Arena.
The schedule 12-rounder was the main event of a card televised on Showtime in the U.S.
Wilder returned in front a sold out crowd against an opponent who had been knocked out two previous times: once against Chris Arreola in 2010 and in his debut against Ashanti Jordan in 2007.
Indeed, as his record suggests, Molina had trouble dealing with reach and could rarely get passed Wilder’s jab.
Wilder looked for right hands early, but as soon as he let a left hook go, he dropped Molina in Round 4.
Molina managed to make it into the following few rounds, but only to be dropped two more times in Round 5.
In Round 9, after Molina threw two lazy jabs, Wilder knocked Molina down amidst cheers from the Birmingham crowd, many of whom had probably never been to a professional boxing fight in their life as Wilder commented to Molina after his win.
What’s next for Wilder? It may be a very long time before he gets a shot as Wladimir Klitschko, but Tyson Fury may be in his future.
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