Heavily hyped prospect Travis Walker (25-1-1, 19 KOs) was brought to earth on Friday night, losing by 1st round TKO in the first 15 seconds of the fight to 2000 super heavyweight amateur star TJ Wilson (12-1, 8 KOs). Walker, 28, a six foot four inch muscle bound heavyweight known for his devastating knockout power, made a tactical blunder in the first few seconds of the bout when he let the 6’6″ 280 lb Wilson immediately back him up into a corner where he couldn’t escape the power shots thrown by Wilson. Within 15 seconds, Wilson unleashed a slurry of punches which all connected to Walker’s head, the last two stunning him can causing him to drop his hands to his side.
The referee quickly jumped in and stopped the bout, wanting to prevent Walker from being seriously hurt by Wilson. An argument can be made that the referee jumped in a little too soon, however, Walker only threw one punch in the fight before the stoppage and was taking serious punishment before the referee chose to stop the bout. I have no doubt that Walker would have been dropped in another 10-20 seconds the way Wilson was punching, mainly because Wilson was just much too fast and large to be dislodged from his punching position, especially the way Walker was looking after absorbing the last two shots.
From appearances, it seems as if Walker didn’t realize how good Wilson was going into the bout, perhaps seeing his one loss – a 3rd round TKO – on his record to journeyman Willie Chapman in 2003, and figured Wilson was a soft touch. However, Wilson was fighting thirty pounds under his normal fighting weight at the time of 260 lbs. It’s unclear why Wilson chose to take off that much weight, one can only assume he’d been fed advice about improving his physique. However, Wilson fights better at a heavier weight much in the same way George Foreman did in his comeback.