Deontay Wilder Is 31-0, With 31 KOs, Stops Scott in First

Deontay Wilder didn’t have to break a sweat before he broke a piece off Malik Scott’s chin in round one of their clash in Puerto Rico, on Showtime, on the Danny Garcia-Mauricio Herrera undercard.

A left hook froze Scott and a right hand follow put the loser on his tush. He tried to get up, but his eyes were glassy, and the ref counted ten in this semifinal match, put on by Golden Boy.

The crowd booed when they saw the replay, which indicated that the right wasn’t fully clean. The hook might have been more than a mere tablesetter, in fact.

The end came at 1:36 for the 28-year-old Wilder, who now gets a crack at the winner of the forthcoming Chris Arreola-Bermane Stiverne scrap. That bout is for the WBC crown left vacant by Vitali Klitschko, who exited boxing for the political arena in the Ukraine.

Post-fight, Jim Gray spoke to Wilder, the 31-0 (31 KOs) resident of Alabama. The left hook to the temple was nasty, the victor said after Gray chided him for thanking too many people.

The Pennsylvania native Scott, age 33, drops to 36-2-1. He had been stopped before, in round six by Dereck Chisora in July 2013.

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