By Luke Furman
After tasting defeat on Saturday night, Polish heavyweight contender Artur Szpilka (20-2, 15 KOs) is already looking ahead and seems to be in good spirits.
Szpilka was knocked out in the ninth round during his battle with WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (36-0, 35 KO) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
He has an injured right hand and plans to have surgery. Szpilka says he may have suffered the injury during the fifth round after throwing a punch that landed on Wilder's elbow.
Upon returning, Szpilka wants to go after newly crowned IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin (23-0-1, 21KOs). On the undercard of Wilder-Szpilka, Martin captured the vacant belt with a third round TKO of Czar Glazkov.
"I've been in New York City a day longer because the doctors recommended it to me. But everything is OK and I feel good. I have to feel sorry for myself because I had great expectations, and I left the ring after his victory. Also in the corner there was a lot of confidence, but this is boxing and heavyweights. One punch can turn around the fortunes of the entire fight," Szpilka stated.
"I want to thank all of the fans who were in the arena and cheered me on so hard. I thank you for your words of encouragement. I don't need to tell you that I'll come back stronger, because it's obvious. I'm going to Poland to have surgery and then rest, and then I plan to return to go after the IBF world title."
"Respect for Wilder, because he got me with a great counter-punch. I did not expect that [punch]. I thank him for the fight. The next time will be better."
Luke Furman covers boxing for bosker.org.