Deontay Wilder vs. Luis Ortiz was a professional boxing match contested on March 3, 2018, for the WBC Heavyweight Championship.

[1] Wilder had first become WBC heavyweight champion in January 2015, after he defeated Bermane Stiverne via 12 round unanimous decision at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Stiverne had been making the first defence of the crown he had claimed after he beat Chris Arreola for the title that had been vacated by the retiring Vitali Klitschko.

Wilder then saw off a host of challengers that included Eric Molina, Johann Duhaupas and Artur Szpilka before he was due to make a mandatory defence of his title against Alexander Povetkin in May 2016.

A hand injury then kept Wilder out until February 2017 when he fought fellow undefeated American Gerald Washington, knocking him out in the 5th round.

His 'high risk, low reward' factor meant that he was largely avoided by the divisions top fighters, but he had previously knocked out contenders Bryant Jennings and Tony Thompson before a short term deal in November 2016 saw him fight twice in two months and in Europe for the first time, first facing Malik Scott in Monaco.

Wilder's mandatory challenger Stiverne had accepted step aside money and agreed to face Dominic Breazeale on the undercard.

[3] The arranged fight was cancelled and Wilder faced Stiverne in a rematch instead, knocking him down three times on the way to delivering a sensational 1st round knockout.

Ortiz then tried to press home his advantage stalking Wilder as the champion looked for counters whilst regaining his composure.

The referee signalled no knockdown before Wilder unleashed a barrage of punches in a slightly wild and unorthodox yet ruthless and clinical fashion, Ortiz stood his ground until a heavy right hand pierced his guard and wobbled him before a second sent him down to the canvas on his knees.

[5][6][7] It was revealed that all three official ringside judges had Wilder ahead 85–84 at the time of the stoppage,[8] whilst both Showtime and CBS Sports had it 86–83 in favour of Ortiz.

Speaking through a translator Ortiz also gave a post fight interview saying, "I almost had him, and I think I would've if there were a few more seconds in the round, Wilder was definitely saved by the bell.