LOS ANGELES_Deontay Wilder wanted to walk with the giants of history in his heavyweight division, and he invoked the spirits of the greats who dug deep by knocking down Tyson Fury in the 12th round Saturday night at Staples Center and saving his belt in an entertaining draw.
Judges scored the bout 115-111 for Wilder (40-0-1), 114-110 for Fury (27-0-1) and 113-113 before a crowd of 17,698, to likely send the fighters to a more anticipated rematch next year.
Middleweight champion Jarrett Hurd, meanwhile, not only stands as one of boxing's few unified champions, he also has a sense for how to effectively build drama.
The two-belt champion from Maryland shrugged off getting cornered and struck while backed to the ropes by underdog contender Jason Welborn of England, then promptly delivered a crushing right hand to the gut.
The thud of the impact dropped Welborn (24-7), the pain intensifying before he could start to rise. When he did, it was too late, with referee Lou Moret counting him out at the time of 1 minute 55 seconds of the fourth round.
"I got caught on the ropes and got caught with some shots and said that's enough," Hurd said. "He got enough TV time."
Hurd (23-0, 16 knockouts) retains his International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association junior-middleweight belts.
Hurd, returning from a minor shoulder operation following his title-unification victory over Cuba's Erislandy Lara in April, flashed rapid and effective combinations in the early going and could pepper Welborn with jabs from the repaired left shoulder.
"I wanted to see how I worked off the jab," Hurd said. "I felt good."
Afterward, World Boxing Council champion Jermell Charlo of Houston entered the ring and challenged Hurd, who's said he wants to take a homecoming fight in Washington next and then meet Charlo in the summer.
Cuba's Luis Ortiz (30-0, 26 KOs) padded his power-punching resume by knocking down Travis Kauffman three times, finishing him with a 10th-round flurry that convinced referee Thomas Taylor to stop the fight at 1 minute 58 seconds.
Ortiz, 39, had hoped to land a 2019 rematch with Wilder if the champion retained his belt. The pair engaged in a fight-of-the-year candidate in March, when Ortiz severely staggered Wilder in the seventh round before being stopped in the 10th.
En route to knocking down Kauffman in the sixth, eighth and 10th rounds, Ortiz put Kauffman (32-3) on alert of his power with two flush lefts to the head in the second round. Nicknamed "King Kong," Ortiz pounded on his chest, urging the leery Kauffman to engage in the fourth.
In the sixth, Ortiz broke through, flooring Kauffman with a left to the jaw, sending the journeyman face first to the canvas while Ortiz charged to a neutral corner and stood on the ring stand in celebration, only to see Kauffman rise before the count of 10.
Ortiz sent Kauffman back to the deck in the eighth with another left to the top of the head, and Kauffman leaned his back to the canvas as if pondering whether to rise again. He did, bobbing, covering and keeping his distance before getting sent down again early in the 10th.
"Nothing contains me," Ortiz said. "(I) didn't have to knock him out, but (I) wanted to show everything in my repertoire, and showed it tonight."
Big Bear-trained Joe Joyce, a 2016 Olympian from England, opened the pay-per-view portion of the card with a thunderous showing, knocking out Joe Hanks at 2:25 of the first round to improve to 7-0 with seven KOs.
Joyce first hurt Hanks (23-3) with a power punch. Instead of immediately swarming for the finish, Joyce waited, then pounced with a power combination of blows that sent Hanks to the canvas. When down, Hanks' attempts to regain his footing deteriorated into stumbles as he was counted out.
"There is plenty more to come," Joyce said after giving a somersault to celebrate the triumph. "I am ready for anyone. I'm getting people out quickly. I've got a lot of experience. I'm just going to improve on my strength and speed.
"I've heard comments that I'm slow, but I seem to land the shots and get the job done."
The Staples Center card was preceded on Showtime by Ukrainian Oleksandr Gvozdyk's 11th-round technical-knockout victory over long-reigning WBC light-heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson in Quebec City.
