Watch Deontay Wilder Knock Out Luis Ortiz With One Powerful Punch

This sneaky punch ended an otherwise boring fight.

Deontay Wilder (42-0-1, with 41 knockouts) took care of business Saturday night, hanging onto his heavyweight title with a seventh round knockout of challenger Luis Ortiz (31-2). 

This sets Wilder up for a rematch with Tyson Fury, and he certainly looked ready. Watch the devastating KO from two angles below.

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Wilder was cruising along for much of the match when he saw his opening and flattened Ortiz. The sneaky punch took his opponent square in the face and Ortiz wasn’t exactly jumping back up off the mat. 

This was a pretty flashy end to an otherwise blah match. Wilder seemed to be saving his energy and taking stock of Ortiz’s approach, which doesn’t exactly make for exciting boxing. 

Wilder later said he was doing exactly what it looked like: “I finally found my measurement and I took the shot,” he said, “I had to play around with him. I had to calculate certain moves.”

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Wilder cut this match shorter than his previous face-off with Ortiz, which stopped in the 10th round. The match with Fury was already signed, and this makes it a hotter ticket than ever.

The judges weren’t exactly impressed with Wilder’s initial caution, and his early scores reflected it—two judges had him winning only one round of six, the other judge scored him the winner of just two.

Wilder resents anyone underestimating him. After the fight he said he’s very smart in the ring “and no one gives me credit. I think I buzzed him with a left hook earlier in the round and I took it from there.”

Ortiz thought he beat the count, saying he “was clear-headed” when he went down. 

“When I heard the referee say seven I was trying to get up,” Ortiz continued, “but I guess the count went a little quicker than I thought.”

Deontay Wilder will step into the ring to fight towering British heavyweight Tyson Fury on Feb. 23, 2020.