Deontay Wilder retained his WBC heavyweight title and unbeaten record after an incredible first-round knockout of Bermane Stiverne in New York Saturday.
Stiverne had been the only fighter to ever push Wilder (39-0) the distance, but he was unable to last three minutes at the Barclays Center.
Wilder initially landed a huge left-right combination to the face of Stiverne, who was never able to recover from the blow.
Stiverne tried – knocked down once more by another big right hand – and a final flurry from Wilder with seconds remaining in the round ended the bout.
The American is now 39-0 with 38 knockouts, and he wants to face WBA, IBF and IBO champion Anthony Joshua (20-0) next.
"I've been waiting on that fight for a long time now," Wilder told Showtime in an in-ring interview.
"I declare war upon you. Do you accept my challenge? I've been waiting for a long time, I know I'm the champion, I know I'm the best. Are you up for the test?"
Stiverne (25-3-1) had taken Wilder the distance in January 2015, but the 39-year-old never came close to doing so again.
Earlier, Sergey Lipinets won a unanimous decision over Akihiro Kondo for the vacant IBF junior welterweight title, a decision that was lustily booed by the crowd of 10,924 at Barclays Center.
In a bout featuring lots of action but lots of missed punches, the 28-year-old Lipinets of Kazakhstan won despite dealing with a cut on the forehead that bled for the final six rounds. He won 118-111 on one judge's card and 117-111 on two others even though Kondo, fighting outside of his native Japan for the first time, carried much of the action in the second half of the bout.
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