Boxing Challenge:Wilder obliterates Breazeale

Early in the afternoon as the thunder rolled through town and rain was falling around my town, it looked like the performance of the boxing day was clearly going to be that of Naoya Inoue in the World Boxing Super Series.
Inoue's performance will be discussed in the next post.but his knockout buzz lasted less than ten hours after Deontay Wilder's single hand ended the grudge match for the WBC heavyweight title with Dominic Breazeale in the first round, retaining his championship, sending people that normally don't post about Twitter to do just that and emphasize the difference between the top three heavyweights ( and maybe the top five with Luis Ortiz and maybe Dillian Whyte) and everyone else in the division.

There's not more than I can say about Wilder's win than it was devastating, despite Breazeale's top rating in the WBC, which I've questioned from day one, he's still a top 10/12 heavyweight and this was impressive, if Deontay Wilder hits you, he hurts you and the stage is now set for Anthony Joshua in two weeks against Andy Ruiz to impress the public and have the casuals demand Joshua-Wilder.
Breazeale didn't roll over for Wilder as he was throwing punches back including one stretch where he reminded me of Wilder's vulnerability when a wild Wilder right was countered by Breazeale in the corner.
However, when you can punch like Wilder, you can get away with a lot and the pulverizing right ended this one shortly thereafter.
Now with his WBC mandatory out of the way for a while, the chant for Joshua-Wilder will pick up and even more drumbeating, should Joshua win impressively against Andy Ruiz.
Wilder's post-fight comments about good things come to those who wait can cause eye-rolling among fans who aren't interested in Dominic Breazeale and Andy Ruiz, let alone the tomato can that is being rolled over to America for Tyson Fury and makes me wonder if this fight might be "Marinated" too much before it actually comes off.
Remember how badly Luis Ortiz hurt Wilder and I've questioned his chin for someone that swings for the fences with every shot, so if an Ortiz rematch is next (I'm fine with an Ortiz rematch, not so thrilled with an Adam Kownacki challenge, Kownacki is the other fighter rumored for Wilder) Wilder and PBC are really risking a massive payday to face the best heavyweight without a claim to the title.
Still, any Deontay Wilder fight against a solid opponent brings a highwire act that will always entertain, I'd just like to see him against Joshua or a Fury rematch to finally see who is the best.

The Halley's Comet of professional boxing made its annual appearance as Gary Russell stopped overmatched Kiko Martinez on cuts in the fifth round.
The result in this one was pretty much decided on the day the fight was signed as the veteran Martinez has lost against every top fighter that he has faced in his career and the big question was would Martinez hold up against Russell's punches and if he took them well, would his skin stay in place to last the distance?
The answer was pretty much this-Martinez took a lot of punches, took them fairly well, but the skin didn't hold up.
Moving on, Russell's post-fight was also a yearly tradition, where he talks about bigger challenges and then after the post-fight high, begins to decide that he likes fighting once a year (his words, not mine).
Russell mentioned Leo Santa Cruz, who holds the WBA title which would rank the two top fighters in the division and since both fight for PBC would be very easy to sign, but considering the track record of Russell (and for that matter LSC, name one real challenge that he has ever taken other than Carl Frampton?) on these matters, I'll believe when they announce it and that is being generous on my part.
Russell also was asked about a move to 130 pounds and what would be a massive fight in the DMV against WBA junior lightweight titleholder Gervonta Davis with Russell living in a Washington suburb and Davis residing in Baltimore.
Instead, Russell answered with Miguel Berchelt because "we both hold the WBC titles") rather than Davis, which sounds like a dodge as Berchelt has a co-promotional deal with Top Rank making a fight very difficult to sign, but Davis being with PBC would be very easy to make, one would think.
Still, nothing with Gary Russell or Gervonta Davis for that matter comes easy and that is too bad-because either or both have a lot to offer boxing and their own bank account.

Back later with the boxing weekend from across the Atlantic as three new world champions are crowned.