Saturday night was filled with action. Deontay Wilder (40-0-1, 39 KOs) finally met his match when he fought to a disputed draw to retain his version of the Heavyweight Championship against current, lineal champ, Tyson Fury (27-0-1, 19 KOs). Two of the three judges saw the majority of the rounds go to Fury, who continued to come forward with a surprising amount of energy. Wilder, though, was successful in dropping Fury twice to the canvas, including a vicious knockdown in the twelfth and final round en route to the decision. There is a strong chance fans may see these two undefeated champions square off in the ring once again within the next twelve months.
On the same card, Luis Ortiz (30-1, 26 KOs), the man who recently gave Deontay Wilder all he could handle before being stopped in the tenth round of their fight, continued his comeback with a second straight knockout victory. The opponent on the receiving end of the knockout on this night was up-and-coming contender, Travis Kauffman (32-3, 23 KOs).
In the co-main event, current WBA and IBF Super Welterweight Champion, Jarrett Hurd (23-0, 16 KOs), put his unified belts on the line, as he faced Great Britain’s Jason Welborn (24-7, 7 KOs). Welborn was a surprisingly feisty opponent, who was able to land some big shots in the first four rounds of the matchup before finally succumbing to Hurd’s amazing handspeed and abnormally long reach. A hard right uppercut to the solar plexus is what finally did in the active and agile Welborn, who put up a great fight until that point. Writhing in pain, Jason could not make the count of ten and the fight was over just before the end of Round 4.
Earlier in the night, Adonis Stevenson (29-2-1, 24 KOs), the long-reigning WBC and lineal Light Heavyweight Champion, as well met his match, as he took on hard-hitting contender, Oleksandr Gvozdyk (16-0, 13 KOs). Two of the judges had Stevenson up on points, while the third had the fight a draw, heading into the eleventh round of their championship fight. This changed rather quickly, as Gvozdyk landed a well-placed left hook to crumble Stevenson, along with a hard straight right as Stevenson had already begun to descend onto the canvas. It was at this time that the referee decided he had seen enough punishment taken from Stevenson, who had been battered throughout the majority of this round, as well as the latter part of the previous. The fight was stopped at 2:49 of Round 11.
With that, Oleksandr Gvozdyk is now the new WBC and lineal Light Heavyweight Champion of the World. Meanwhile, the punishment to Stevenson was so severe, he was taken to a local hospital, where he is currently in a medically-induced coma to allow for the reduction of the swelling around his brain. We here at the Fighting News certainly hope he will be ok.
Mike Feinberg
The Fighting News Reporter
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