Deontay Wilder stops Tyrrell Herndon in return to ring

Former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder scored a seventh-round stoppage of unheralded journeyman Tyrrell Herndon in his return to action Friday night at Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas.

The stoppage came at the 2:16 mark, as Wilder, 39, got back to his winning ways after losing three of his past four fights. It was his first fight since June 2024, when he suffered a knockout loss to Zhilei Zhang.

“I was off a long time getting myself back together mentally, physically, and emotionally,” said Wilder (44-4-1, 43 KOs). “It’s been a long road for me. It’s great to be back in the ring. I didn’t give the fans exactly what they wanted to see, but I’m just going to get better and better.”

Known for his devastating power with a knockout-to-win percentage of 97.7%, Wilder had to demonstrate patience against the defense-minded Herndon (24-6, 15 KOs), who appeared to be more interested in survival rather than winning the fight.

Wilder, who is 6-foot-7, prodded at his opponent with a long jab and sought to land his trademark right hand. But Herndon was prepared to evade the power punch and routinely circled away.

Wilder managed to put down Herndon with a cuffing left hook in Round 2. The shot caught Herndon off balance, and he quickly rose to show no ill effects from the knockdown. Still, Herndon lacked an offensive game plan, and eventually, Wilder grew increasingly more aggressive.

By the end of the fifth round, Wilder was charging forward, winging looping punches with bad intentions. It wasn’t a pretty fight as Wilder recklessly threw punches, unconcerned with what was coming back at him. He decided to step up the pressure in Round 6 and pursued a knockout against a visibly exhausted Herndon. With Herndon struggling to get away from his taller opponent, Wilder pursued him throughout the sixth and seventh rounds, increasing his punch output and looking to land a right hand.

A barrage of punches put the tiring Herndon down in the sixth. Wilder punctuated his return a round later by blasting his opponent with a straight right hand that violently split Herndon’s gloves. Herndon wasn’t taking the punches well and wasn’t firing back, which led to the referee stopping the fight.