Deontay Wilder vs. Luis Ortiz 2 results: Wilder destroys Ortiz with one-punch KO in the 7th, retains WBC title

Andreas Hale

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Deontay Wilder vs. Luis Ortiz 2 results: Wilder destroys Ortiz with one-punch KO in the 7th, retains WBC title image

LAS VEGAS — Deontay Wilder has continued to live by the mantra that his opponents need to be perfect for 12 rounds. Meanwhile, he only needs two seconds. That's exactly what happened when Wilder dug himself out of a deep hole and obliterated Luis Ortiz with a right hand that earned him a seventh-round knockout to retain the WBC heavyweight title and keep the plans in place for a 2020 rematch with Tyson Fury. 

For just over six rounds, however, Ortiz was as close to perfect against Wilder as he could be in a return bout of their thrilling 2018 affair. Wilder won that fight in the 10th round after surviving a seventh in which he was in the most trouble he had ever been in. During the rematch, Ortiz used excellent footwork and routinely connected with a left to the body and a left hook while not allowing Wilder to land anything of significance. 

Wilder demonstrated impressive patience by not swarming himself. But that patience appeared to be what would have been his undoing as Ortiz racked up rounds. Wilder's lack of activity had the fans at the MGM growing impatient, and Ortiz appeared to be running away with the fight. 

But the two seconds Wilder needed happened at the end of the seventh round. 

Ortiz appeared to take control of the round but got a little reckless at the end of the round and was caught by Wilder's massive right hand that remains the most potent weapon in all of boxing. Ortiz collapsed to the canvas in a heap as Wilder knew the damage was done. Ortiz tried desperately to get to his feet but his equilibrium was shot, and referee Kenny Bayless called the fight off at the 2:51 mark. 

With the victory, Wilder improves to 42-0-1 with the 41st knockout of his career. Ortiz falls to 31-2 and has to live with the fact that he couldn't be as perfect as he needed to be for this fight. 

Deontay Wilder stops Luis Ortiz in 7th round with devastating right hand

Round 7 (12:36 a.m.):  Does Deontay Wilder have a Plan B? Because Plan A clearly isn’t working. Wilder lands a left hand. Ortiz jumps back at him. Wilder finally launches a right hand that misses. I felt the wind from that punch. Wilder lands a right hand that Ortiz shrugs off. They exchange and Ortiz rocks Wilder with a left hand. Another left hook. Right hand and Ortiz is down!!!!!! It's over!!!!

Round 6 (12:32 a.m.):  The hole is getting deeper for Wilder. Ortiz lands a left and a right. Is Wilder going to wake up sometime soon? Ortiz lands another right hand. Wilder’s lack of offense is fascinating. He’s waiting for the perfect punch and Ortiz won’t give it to him. Man, Wilder needs to do something … quick. (10-9 Ortiz, 59-55 Ortiz)

Round 5 (12:28 a.m.): Ortiz lands an overhand left to start the fifth. Ortiz lands a left to the body. Wilder needs to pick up the pace. Digging himself a hole. Wilder throws a three-punch combination that misses. Ortiz again lands to the body. Wilder hasn’t been able to answer that punch. Wilder lands a right hand and comes after Ortiz. Left by Wilder. Another Ortiz round. (10-9 Ortiz, 49-46 Ortiz)

Round 4 (12:24 a.m.): Ortiz is picking up the pace. Wilder looking for an opening that Ortiz isn’t presenting. Left hook by Ortiz and another. Wilder smiles. Ortiz landing huge left hands and Wilder thumps his chest. Crowd goes nuts. Jab by Wilder. Right hand by Wilder. Not enough to win the round. (10-9 Ortiz, 39-37 Ortiz)

Round 3 (12:20 a.m.): Ortiz lands a hard left hand to start the third. Wilder having a hard time figuring out Ortiz. Another left hand by Ortiz. One to the body. Wilder lands a hard right hand. Ortiz is ramping up the activity. Wilder is patient, a little too patient. (10-9 Ortiz, 29-28 Ortiz)

Round 2 (12:15 a.m.): Wilder pawing with the jab to start the round. Wilder lands with a right hand down the middle. Ortiz having a hard time getting inside. Ortiz rolls in but doesn’t land anything heavy. Wilder still pawing the jab. Nothing happens. I guess Ortiz? (10-9 Ortiz, 19-19)

Round 1 (12:11 a.m.) : Ortiz comes right at Wilder. Not much happening just yet. Feeling each other out. Ortiz lands a hard left hook. Wilder connects with a hard combination. Ortiz is cut on the right side of his head and bleeding. Not much here in the first, but Wilder’s 1-2 takes the round. (10-9 Wilder)

12:04 a.m.: Deontay Wilder makes another grand entrance. The ring attire is an incredible Game of Thrones-like hybrid. Surreal. The energy has ramped up several levels here. 

Leo Santa Cruz overwhelms Miguel Flores to claim vacant WBA super featherweight title

Result (11:45 p.m.): Leo Santa Cruz claimed another world title in his fourth weight class as he dominated a game, but overmatched Miguel Flores to earn a unanimous decision. The scores were 115-112, 117-110 and 117-110. Obviously, the 115-112 scorecard was a bit too close, but there was no doubt who the better man was. The biggest thing to come out of the fight was Santa Cruz calling out Gervonta Davis and Gary Russell Jr. Both are opponents that would make for excellent fights. Let's see if they come together. 

11:40 p.m.: If you were looking for drama, the best you got out of this fight was a clash of heads that caused a cut of Leo Santa Cruz's left eye. Aside from that, it's been all Santa Cruz. Sorry, nothing else to see here. 

11:26 p.m.: It's been wash, rinse and repeat for eight rounds as Leo Santa Cruz continues to do Leo Santa Cruz things, continuing to overwhelm Flores with his work rate. It's a typical Santa Cruz fight against lesser opposition, and Flores' lack of a big punch will likely keep him stuck in this spin cycle.  

11:03 p.m. : We're now into the third round of the co-main event between Leo Santa Cruz (36-1-1, 19 KOs) and Miguel Florez (24-2, 12 KOs) for the vacant WBA World Super Featherweight Championship. Santa Cruz is a hefty favorite at 40-1 and is using his volume to take the early rounds. Flores hasn't done much to make Santa Cruz reconsider his approach of launching multiple punches and may find himself in a deep hole if this keeps up. 

Brutal war between Brandon Figueroa and Julio Ceja ends in split draw   

Result (10:42 p.m.): After over 2,800 punches thrown, Brandon Figueroa and Julio Ceja ends in a split draw with scores of 115-113 for Figueroa, 116-112 for Ceja and an even score of 114-114. An unreal pace that started early and never let up saw these two battle in a phone booth for 12 demanding rounds. It was a surprisingly brutal battle between a pair of guys with an impressive knockout ratio that didn't disappoint. But, in the end, the right decision was made as both fighters gave it their all and it's likely they will meet again ... as long as Ceja can make weight. 

10:34 p.m.: We're heading into the final round of a really brutal battle between these two. Ceja's punches seem to have more steam on them but Figueroa refuses to step out of the phone booth and try to outbox the brawler. These scorecards are likely to be all over the place. 

10:22 p.m.: It's starting to feel like Ceja is gaining momentum. His work rate has yet to slow down and it appears that his punches are starting to get to Figueroa. This a physically taxing fight for both Figueroa and Ceja. The problem is that Ceja has nothing to lose and Figueroa is eating a lot more leather than anyone anticipated. Eight rounds down and the relentless pace continues.   

10:10 p.m.: This is a helluva fight between Figueroa and Ceja. If they were bigger names, this could be a Fight of the Year contender with the pace they’ve put up this far. Neither fighter has taken a break and continue to pound on each other in close quarters. You have to figure that one of them will eventually slow down, but it simply hasn't happened yet. Scorecards through five rounds should be interesting.   

10:01 p.m. : It appeared that Figueroa was going to walk right through Ceja after his opponent came in four pounds overweight. Figueroa pummeled him for the first round, but Ceja has settled in and the next two rounds were fought in a virtual phone both with both landing hard shots. It's a pretty entertaining bout thus far. 

9:50 p.m. : Up next is Brandon "Heartbreaker" Figueroa (20-0, 15 KOs) vs. Julio Ceja (32-4, 28 KOs) for the WBA World Super Bantamweight title. Figueroa is the younger brother of Omar Figueroa and has shown a ton of promise. His opponent is likely remembered by most for his barnburner with Guillermo Rigondeaux back in June. Ceja was on the wrong end of that fight and lost by eighth-round TKO. It's a step up for Figueroa.  

Eduardo Ramirez blasts Leduan Barthelemy for 4th-round TKO

Result (9:35 p.m.):  Well, this fight was better than advertised as Ramirez took the fight to Barthelemy and cleaned his clock with a huge left hand in the fourth round that scored him a knockout victory. Prior to that, Ramirez simply couldn't miss with his power shots as Barthelemy tried to bait him in for a counter. Unfortunately for Barthelemy, he couldn't counter when he continuously ate hard shots. Eventually, it was too much as the left hand put the Cuban down. Although he would rise as the round ended, he was clearly shaken and couldn't continue. Time of stoppage was 2:59. 

9:23 p.m.: We're kicking off the PPV portion with Leduan Barthelemy (15-0-1, 7 KOs), brother of Rances, facing Eduardo Ramirez (22-2-3, 9 KOs) in a rematch from their split draw bout from September 2017. The fight was moved to the main card after Luis Nery failed to make weight and Emmanuel Rodriguez refused to accept the fight. It's a big blow to the card, but maybe Barthelemy and Ramirez can make us forget about it? Probably not. But we shall see. 

Wilder vs. Ortiz 2 fight card

Matchup Class Belt
Deontay Wilder vs. Luis Ortiz 2 Heavyweight WBC
Leo Santa Cruz vs. Miguel Flores Junior Lightweight WBA
Brandon Figueroa vs. Julio Ceja Junior Featherweight WBA
Luis Nery vs. Emmanuel Rodriguez Bantamweight  
Leduan Barthelemy vs. Eduardo Ramirez Junior Lightweight  
Vito Mielnicki Jr. vs. Marklin Bailey Welterweight  
Omar Juarez vs. Kevin Shacks Junior Welterweight  
Jerry Perez vs. Mark John Yap Junior Lightweight  

Wilder vs. Ortiz 2 latest news

— Deontay Wilder says he has to be perfect for only two seconds to beat Luis Ortiz .

— Wilder vs. Ortiz fight purse: Find out how much the heavyweights will make .

— Wilder addresses the Colin Kaepernick situation: ' He deserves another chance '

— Brandon Figueroa can step out of his brother's shadow  with a victory over Julio Ceja on Saturday night.

Andreas Hale

Andreas Hale Photo

Andreas Hale is the senior editor for combat sports at The Sporting News. Formerly at DAZN, Hale has written for various combat sports outlets, including The Ring, Sherdog, Boxing Scene, FIGHT, Champions and others. He has been ringside for many of combat sports’ biggest events, which include Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-McGregor, Canelo-GGG, De La Hoya-Pacquiao, UFC 229, UFC 202 and UFC 196, among others. He also has spent nearly two decades in entertainment journalism as an editor for BET and HipHopDX while contributing to MTV, Billboard, The Grio, The Root, Revolt, The Source, The Grammys and a host of others. He also produced documentaries on Kendrick Lamar, Gennadiy Golovkin and Paul George for Jay-Z’s website Life+Times.