Deontay Wilder retains WBC heavyweight title with knockout of Eric Molina
Hard-hitting American dominates 50-1 Mexican underdog, who is stopped in the ninth round, to move closer to a title fight against Wladimir Klitschko,
Deontay Wilder successfully defended his WBC heavyweight title with a ninth-round knockout of Eric Molina on Saturday night at Bartow Arena, a short drive from his hometown.
Wilder (34-0) delivered a right hand that turned Molina around and sent him falling on his back after a couple of follow-up punches. The referee quickly signaled that the fight was over, probably several rounds later than many observers expected with Wilder a heavy favorite.
A lot of people said he wouldn’t even be around, he wouldn’t last. There were a lot of doubters, but he showed a lot of heart and I needed that kind of guy to fight here in Alabama
Later than the hard-hitting Wilder expected, too.
“I was really surprised he kept coming and hanging in there,” Wilder said. “A lot of people said he wouldn’t even be around, he wouldn’t last. There were a lot of doubters, but he showed a lot of heart and I needed that kind of guy to fight here in Alabama.
“A lot of people at the fight tonight were first-timers so I wanted to put on a good show. When you have a tough guy with a lot of heart in front of you, that’s what you’re going to get.”
The 6-foot-7 Wilder knocked down Molina (23-3) in the fourth and twice again in the fifth, practically running across the ring after him before Molina went down the third time. The Texan withstood barrages to the head in the sixth from Wilder, but came back strong two rounds later, landing some hard body shots.
It ended 1:57 into the ninth.
