Deontay Wilder, Deon Nicholson Pick Up Wins In Kansas (Highlights/Interviews Included)

Pete Moss
Jun 28
3 min read

Deontay Wilder fought in the Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas this past Friday night, a long way from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, or the Barclays Center in New York that he has been accustomed to fighting in throughout his career.

For Wilder, this is a part of the rebuild process. Wilder has lost his last two fights and been out of the ring for over a year, something highly detrimental for a fighter at this stage in his career.

"Being out of the ring for a year, there was a lot of work that had to be done," the 39 year old Wilder said in the press conference. "I had to have an outlet to release so many things that had been built up. This time around I'm being selfish. I've been so selfless in the past but this time around it's all about me."

Wilder faced Tyrrell Herndon (24-5) in his return to the ring. The fight was less action packed, and more Herndon being hyper aware of Wilder's career making right hand. To Herndon's credit he did show some good head movement, managing to mostly stay out of the way of the right hand until fatigue set in. As a result of Herndon's focus on defense, his offense was virtually non-existent.

Officially, Herndon was knocked down in the second and sixth rounds, with the second round knockdown seeming to happen as a result of Herndon being off balance. The referee put an end to the fight in the seventh after Herndon reeled from a big Wilder right hand.

WATCH: Wilder wins by TKO in round 7

Wilder was gracious in his post fight interview, complimenting Herndon for his toughness while at the same time apologizing to the crowd for not delivering the highlight reel knockout they were hungry for.

"I know I didn't give everybody what they truly wanted to see," he expressed to the crowd. "But we're gonna get better and better as we get going."

WATCH: Wilder gives post fight interview

While Wilder was taking time off, the Heavyweight Division has been steadily heating up. The division is full of players such as Daniel Dubois, Agit Kabayel, Filip Hrgovic, Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury, Joseph Parker, Anthony Joshua, and even promising newcomers such as Moses Itauma.

Wilder is hoping to get back into the mix among them. It will be interesting to see where Wilder goes from here, opponent wise.

Deon Nicholson got his eighth win in a row, stopping an uninterested Devonte Williams (13-1) in the fourth round on a body shot in the Light Heavyweight division. It was clear from the first round that William's game plan was no plan at all; simply make it to the end of the fight. Nicholson would not allow that to happen, as he applied a steady flow of body jabs until Williams decided he had enough. Nicholson landed a body shot in the fourth and Williams immediately went down and spit out his mouthpiece. After the count reached 10, Williams simply got up, congratulated Nicholson and exited the ring.

WATCH: Nicholson wins by TKO in round 4

In the post fight interview Nicholson was asked who he would like to fight next. Nicholson mentioned David Morrell and David Benavidez. "You heard him, he's calling out the Monster," the interviewer replied. "Yeah. I'M THE MONSTER," Nicholson responded.