NEW YORK -- Here comes "Trouble." And down he went.
Mandatory challenger Dominic Breazeale said all the right things in the buildup to Saturday's heavyweight title bout at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. But Deontay Wilder's explosive right hand ultimately made all the bad blood shared between them a moot point.
Wilder (41-0-1, 40 KOs) added yet another violent finish to his career highlight reel with a brutal one-punch knockout at 2:17 of Round 1. Wilder, 33, made the ninth defense of the WBC title he originally captured in 2015.
After a fight week filled with controversy as Wilder came under fire for threatening Breazeale's life inside the ring and sharing his hope to one day add a dead body to his record, the Alabama-born slugger showcased his scary and historic power in the opening round.
"Everything just came out of me tonight," Wilder said. "I know there was a lot of words and animosity against each other and it just came out tonight. This is what makes boxing so great when you can have so much inside and just overcome."