Deontay Wilder named WBC Boxer of the Month for December

Deontay Wilder and Devin Haney honoured by the WBC

WBC heavyweight kingpin Deontay Wilder was chosen as the World Boxing Council's Boxer of the Month in December for having successfully defended his WBC heavyweight championship against Cuban Luis Ortiz.

Young Devin Haney received an Honourary Mention for having defended his WBC lightweight crown to Alfredo Santiago.

It was on November 23 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas when WBC Heavyweight World Champion Deontay "The Bronze Bomber" Wilder (42-0-1) continued his impressive title reign with a one-punch knockout victory over Luis "King Kong" Ortiz (31-2) in the seventh round of their rematch.

It was a commendable 10th consecutive title defense, tying him with Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Larry Holmes, Tommy Burns, and Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko as the only heavyweight champions to achieve that historic feat.

In a rematch of their epic 2018 fight that saw Wilder rally back from nearly being stopped to knock out Ortiz in round 10, the fight again saw both men hold the momentum at different times, as Ortiz actually controlled much of the action, intent on becoming the first Cuban heavyweight champion in history, but Wilder, who was not very active in the early rounds, landed clean just once to stop the 40-year-old Cuban in his tracks.

Wilder's next fight will be against Briton Tyson Fury (29-0-1) on February 22 at a venue yet to be confirmed in Las Vegas on a Top Rank show, promoted by Bob Arum.

21-year-old rising superstar, Devin Miles Haney (24-0) scored an outstanding one-sided unanimous decision verdict over previously unbeaten Alfredo Santiago (12-1) on November 9 at the Staples Center in LA to earn his honouary mention from the WBC.

The 25-year-old from Dominican Republic was down in the fifth round and cut over the left eye in the 11th. The three ringside judges all scored it 120-107 to the Californian champion in his maiden defence of the WBC world lightweight title.