Deontay Wilder vs. Gerald Washington – Results

By Boxing News - 02/25/2017 - Comments

Image: Deontay Wilder vs. Gerald Washington - Results

By Jeff Aranow: WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs) overcame a bad start to come back to stop previously unbeaten challenger Gerald Washington (18-1-1, 12 KOs) in the 5th round on Saturday night on Premier Boxing Champions on Fox TV at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.

Wilder dropped Washington with a right-left combination to the head in the 5th round. Washington was badly hurt, and the fight was halted moments later by the referee after Wilder landed some big shots against the badly hurt challenger. The official time of the stoppage was at 1:45 of the 5th round. You can argue that the referee stopped the fight a little too soon. It would have been nice for the boxing fans to see Wilder finish off Washington rather than having the fight stopped while the challenger was still on his feet.

Wilder appeared to be losing the fight through the first four rounds, as he wasn’t letting his hands go, and he was just allowing the 6’7”, 239 lb. to dominate the fight with his jab and his occasional right hands. Wilder looked unnerved through the first four rounds.

Wilder’s right hand was the game changer in the 5th, as he landed a short right hand to the jaw of Washington that badly hurt him. What was surprising was the left hand that Wilder threw to finish Washington. It was a pretty good shot. However, by that point, Washington would have gone down with anything that he was hit with.

Wilder had problems landing anything in the first four rounds. He wasn’t throwing many shots, but the ones that he did throw, they were missing badly.

In the 4th round, Wilder landed a couple of left hands to the head of Washington that may have won the round for him. Washington hit Wilder with a right hand in the closing seconds of the round to possibly steal the round.

Going into round 5, Washington looked very confident. He was getting the better of Wilder, and making him miss with his punches. Washington made a big mistake of backing up against the ropes and trapping himself. Wilder then took advantage of this mistake by nailing Washington with a jarring hand to the jaw that stunned him. Wilder followed up with a left hook that put Washington on the canvas. Wilder then finished off Washington with some nice shots that caused the referee to step in and stop the contest, albeit a little too prematurely for my tastes.

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Wilder could be facing WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker next in a unification fight. Parker has a title defense on April 1 against Hughie Fury that he’ll need to win. However, if Parker does his jab and beats Fury, we could see a big fight between him and Wilder in four or five months.

“I’m ready for Joseph Parker. The question is he ready for me,” said Wilder after the fight. “I did my part. Now Joseph Parker has to do his.”

Wilder will need to fight a lot better against Parker if he wants to get the victory. Parker is a bigger puncher than Gerald Washington, and if Wilder is just standing in front of him and not letting his hands go, we could see him getting knocked out. Parker has a lot of power too, and he’ll be looking to test the chin of Wilder.

This performance from Wilder was not a particularly good one. His right hand bailed him out in this fight against Washington. Wilder can’t afford to be timid if/when he faces IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in the future.

A lot of top heavyweights would have been a threat to Wilder tonight if they’d been inside the ring with him rather than Washington. Wilder didn’t have to worry about getting hit with anything big or fast from Washington, as he’s not a big puncher and he doesn’t have a lot of hand speed.

Image: Deontay Wilder vs. Gerald Washington - Results

Image: Deontay Wilder vs. Gerald Washington - Results

Image: Deontay Wilder vs. Gerald Washington - Results

Image: Deontay Wilder vs. Gerald Washington - Results

Image: Deontay Wilder vs. Gerald Washington - Results

Image: Deontay Wilder vs. Gerald Washington - Results

Image: Deontay Wilder vs. Gerald Washington - Results

Image: Deontay Wilder vs. Gerald Washington - Results

Image: Deontay Wilder vs. Gerald Washington - Results

Image: Deontay Wilder vs. Gerald Washington - Results

Image: Deontay Wilder vs. Gerald Washington - Results

Image: Deontay Wilder vs. Gerald Washington - Results

Image: Deontay Wilder vs. Gerald Washington - Results

Image: Deontay Wilder vs. Gerald Washington - Results

Image: Deontay Wilder vs. Gerald Washington - Results

Image: Deontay Wilder vs. Gerald Washington - Results

Image: Deontay Wilder vs. Gerald Washington - Results

Image: Deontay Wilder vs. Gerald Washington - Results

Image: Deontay Wilder vs. Gerald Washington - Results