By Thomas Gerbasi

BROOKLYN - Poland's Artur Szpilka appeared to be perilously close to upsetting WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder before 12,668 fans at Barclays Center Saturday night, but 'The Bronze Bomber' always has the equalizer, and he fired it and landed it in the ninth round, knocking Szpilka out to retain his title for the third time.

And while Wilder got a fight out of Szpilka, he almost got another one out of recent Wladimir Klitschko conqueror Tyson Fury, who stormed into the ring and went nose to nose with the champion, who led 78-74, 78-74 and 77-75 at the time of the finish. Cooler heads prevailed, leaving fans wanting a future battle between the giants and Wilder some time to celebrate a victory that was tougher than expected.

It was a fairly uneventful first round, with the southpaw Szpilka making several wild lunges in an attempt to get inside on the 6-foot-7 Wilder, but rarely hitting his mark. Content to stay at range, Wilder fired off some hard shots in the final minute, but he too came up short.

Szpilka landed the first hard shot of the fight early in the second with a left that sent sweat spraying from the champion's head, but Wilder wasn't bothered by the blow. Instead, 'The Bronze Bomber' began moving forward after his foe, but was largely ineffective outside of the occasional sharp jab.

The action began to heat up in the third, Szpilka growing more confident by the second, a byproduct of Wilder apparently showing him a great deal of respect. The champion did throw more power shots in the round, though he wasn't in anything that could be called a rhythm yet.

Wilder got his jab working late in the fourth and he wasn't shy about letting the crowd and Szpilka know it, finally showing that he was engaged in the bout as he rattled the challenger.

The champion opened round five with some stiff head shots, eager to exchange. Szpilka took his time to respond, but he did when he was able to pin Wilder to the ropes briefly. With a minute left, Szpilka got tagged but then fired back with abandon, igniting the crowd before eating a short right in the closing seconds.

Wilder fought well at range in the sixth, landing cleanly on the challenger with jabs and right crosses. Szpilka got in some shots, but Wilder's poor balance made them look more effective than they were.

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Opening up round seven with a flush left-right, Wilder started strong in the round, and he kept the heat on, timing his opponent's rushes perfectly. Eager to get back into the fray, Szpilka began using his jab again to set up his combinations, having some success in the process, as he closed the round strong.

Round eight was a close one, and while Wilder landed the best punch of the frame with a late right hand, Szpilka was busier throughout the three-minute period as he pursued his opponent around the ring.

Yet just as Szpilka's upset bid seemed to be becoming a reality, Wilder shut the door in emphatic fashion in round nine, with a single right hand putting the Poland native down and out. The official time of the knockout was 2:24

EMTs were rushed to the ring after referee Michael Griffin waved the bout off, and while Szpilka sat up and was responsive, he was removed from the ring on a stretcher as a precautionary measure.

"He's awake,? said Szpilka trainer Ronnie Shields. "He didn't want to go to the hospital. He's good."

With the win, Tuscaloosa's Wilder improves to 36-0 with 35 KOs; Szpilka falls to 20-2 with 15 KOs.

In the co-feature - It wasn't the ideal way for the first world heavyweight title fight in Brooklyn in 116 years to end, but Charles Martin will take it, as he won the vacant IBF crown in the co-main event at Barclays Center Saturday night when Ukraine's Vyacheslav Glazkov was unable to continue after a third-round knee injury.

?I still wanted to fight,? Martin said, but Glazkov was in no condition to do that, causing a premature end to the bout, which was fought the title stripped from Tyson Fury.

Taking advantage of a fairly passive Glazkov, Martin was able to outwork his foe in the first two frames, even if there wasn't nearly enough action to keep the Brooklyn faithful happy.

Glazkov got a little more aggressive in the third, but after a left to the head forced him to stumble, and then slip to the mat, it was clear that something was wrong with his leg. Moments later, Glazkov went down to the canvas without getting hit and he came up limping, his right knee having buckled. As referee Earl Brown counted, Glazkov turned and staggered to the corner, with Brown calling the bout at the 1:50 mark.

With the win, Carson, California's Martin moves to 23-0-1 with 21 KOs; Lugansk's Glazkov falls to 21-1-1 with 13 KOs.