American heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder added another stunning KO to his ever-growing highlight reel this weekend when he stopped Luis Ortiz inside seven rounds of their hotly-anticipated rematch at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Wilder, 34, was outboxed for six rounds before unleashing a thunderous right hand that sent the big Cuban crumbling to the canvas, sealing the 10th defence of his WBC title and moving level with Muhammad Ali in consecutive defences.
'The Bronze Bomber' has now recorded 42 wins from 43 fights as a professional, a draw against Britain's Tyson Fury the only blemish on an otherwise spotless CV, and the Alabaman has racked up an eye-watering 41 stoppage wins along the way.
Unsurprisingly, such an explosive reputation in the ring has lent itself perfectly to the world of photojournalism, resulting in some sublime action shots. Below we've picked out our favourite shots of Wilder landing his trademark bombs on the various poor souls who have had the misfortune of being on the receiving end of them.
Vs Bermane Stiverne (second fight), November 2017
A rematch of the 2015 meeting between Wilder and Bermane Stiverne that ended with the former picking up the WBC belt that he still brandishes (insert Deontay Wilder voice) "'til this day!"
Stiverne managed to survive the distance the first time they met, an honour only he and Tyson Fury share, but in the rematch, the Haitian-Canadian turned up to the fight in such horrendous shape that few, if anyone, expected the challenger to cause an upset.
Those critics were right to voice their concerns as Wilder battered a hapless Stiverne from the opening bell until the referee was forced to call a halt on proceedings in just the third round.
Vs Dominic Breazeale, May 2019
What took Anthony Joshua seven rounds to dismantle took Wilder just one.
The meeting between these two American heavyweights was draped in bad blood and animosity, and there was a genuine half-hearted belief in the run-up that, given Breazeale's decent showing against AJ, he could give Wilder some problems of his own.
It was all over in the first round, although not without a little scare for Wilder too. Both men were rocked in that opening stanza and it became a case of who was going to end it first - cue a gargantuan right from Wilder that toppled the Californian.
Vs Tyson Fury, December 2018
Given the manner in which Wilder dealt with his two subsequent opponents (Ortiz and Breazeale) since drawing with Wythenshawe's Tyson Fury at the tail-end of 2018, it makes it all the more incredible that 'The Gypsy King' survived a blow that vanquished nearly 40 other men before him.
Not for the first time in his professional career, Wilder had been widely outboxed for the most part before delivering a shot so powerful that Fury had to channel his inner-Undertaker to revive himself from the brink of defeat and earn himself a draw.
The two outspoken heavyweights do battle again in February and, fingers-crossed, Fury has learned his lesson about the bazooka Wilder carries in his right arm.
Vs Artur Szpilka, January 2016
The conclusion of Deontay Wilder's third title defence is among his most brutal stoppages.
Szpilka, a tough-as-nails heavyweight from Poland, gave Wilder the toughest assessment of his career at that point, and before a monster right from Wilder put a halt to proceedings, he was ahead on the scorecards.
Szpilka was down for a couple of minutes after the knockout, and was taken out on a stretcher out of the ring for his own safety - thankfully, he made a quick recovery.
Vs Luis Ortiz (first fight), March 2018
As the rematch proved this weekend, meetings between these two usually produce fireworks, and the first clash wasn't any different.
Before the fight, Ortiz had built up a reputation as the heavyweight boogeyman and few went out of there way to fight him.
As many suspected, Ortiz' years of amateur experience caused the champion all sorts of problems and in the seventh round, a counter right from the Cuban stunned Wilder, and another left hook left him holding on for dear life before being saved by the bell.
The finish came in the 10th round with a Wilder uppercut emphatically ending any hope the challenger had of an upset.
