Nicolai Firtha had his moments early, before heavyweight puncher Deontay Wilder settled down behind his jab (29 thrown per round/8 landed- hvt. avg is 20 thrown/6 landed per round). Wilder then displayed his pop, landing nearly half his power shots.
Featherweight prospect Braulio Santos got a first-round technical knockout of David Clark shortly after scoring a knockdown on Clark with a left hook. Clark rose, but he didn’t last much longer afterward. The referee soon stepped in and halted the action 1 minute and 49 seconds into the round. Santos, 23, of Carolina, Puerto Rico, improves to 11-1 with 10 KOs and gets his first win back since a June decision loss to Derrick Wilson. Clark, 29, of Los Angeles, is now 6-3 (4 KOs). - In the show’s opener, Dominic Wade blitzed Roberto Ventura, knocking him down three times en route to a first round stoppage. The time of the stoppage was 2 minutes and 8 seconds into the round. Wade found quick success with a left hook followed by a right hand.
Surprisingly, 66% of Deontay Wilder's thrown punches are jabs (ala his trainer Mark Breland). Firtha's opponents (Fury, Povetkin, Banks) landed 48% of their power shots. Nicolai. Firtha needs to get busier and use his jab (24 thrown per round) and not slug with Wilder.
LONDON – Knockout heavyweight sensation Deontay Wilder has earmarked a world title clash with one of the Klitschko brothers early next year before crossing the Atlantic to take care of brash-talking Tyson Fury. The ‘Bronze Bomber’, who has sent shockwaves through the heavyweight division after laying out all 29 of his past opponents, returns to the ring this weekend to face Nicolai Firtha on the undercard of Bernard Hopkins’ world title defence against Karo Murat in Atlantic City. Speaking exclusively to BoxNation, the imposing 6ft 7in bruiser from Tuscaloosa, Alabama has his sight firmly fixed on becoming the next heavyweight champion of the world by dethroning the current kings of the division – the Klitschko brothers – who he believes have their vulnerabilities.
Atlantic City - The weights are in for the Showtime televised tripleheader taking place at the Boardwalk Hall. In the main event, Bernard Hopkins will defend his IBF light heavweight championship against the mandatory challenger Karo Murat of Germany. The challenger is 174-pounds, while Hopkins came in at a trim 172.5-pounds. Undefeated Peter Quillin defends his WBO middleweight title for the second time, as he faces the tough as nails Gabe Rosado. Quillin tipped the scale at 159.25, while Rosado was at the division limit of 160-pounds.
Hopkins vs. Murat is a 12-round bout for Hopkins' IBF Light Heavyweight World Championship, presented by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Caesars Atlantic City and sponsored by Corona and AT&T. In the co-main event WBO Middleweight Champion Peter Quillin puts his title on the line against Gabriel Rosado in a 12-round bout. Plus, opening the tripleheader, WBC Continental Americas Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder will face Nicolai Firtha in a 10-round showdown. The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast begins live at 9 p.m. ET/PT and is available in Spanish on secondary audio programming (SAP). Preliminary bouts will air live on SHOWTIME EXTREME® beginning at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
BoxingScene.com has been advised the undefeated heavyweight banger Deontay Wilder (29-0, 29KOs) has found an opponent for his fourth fight of the year, as he faces Nicolai Firtha (21-10-1, 8KOs) on October 26th in a Showtime televised fight from the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Firtha has been stopped a number of times, including a fifth round TKO defeat to Tyson Fury in September 2011 (although Firtha seriously rocked Fury in the third). But, he also went the distance with Alexander Povetkin, Johnathon Banks and several others. None of Wilder's opponents in 2013 have lasted more than two rounds.