Deontay Wilder wanted a dramatic finish against Dominic Breazeale, and he got it.

Deontay Wilder made headlines when he said that Dominic Breazeale’s life would be on the line in Saturday’s bout at the Barclays Center. It didn’t end that way, but it did end in another way he mentioned; by knocking out Breazeale in dramatic fashion.

Wilder (41-0-1, 40KOs) retained his WBC title for the ninth time against Breazeale (20-2, 18KOs), joining some heavyweight greats. The victory tied him with Muhammed Ali, Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson, and Lennox Lewis on the all-time heavyweight list.

The record in the division for the most defenses belongs to Larry Homes (20).

“The Bronze Bomber” lived up to his name by putting out Breazeale with just one thunderous punch. Breazeale, who goes by the moniker of “Trouble,” couldn’t bring any of it to Wilder on this particular night.

At the opening round, Wilder threw his jab repeatedly to set up his pop-loaded right hand. He hit Breazeale with a clean one, to which the mandatory challenger reacted by nodding his head.

As Breazeale pressed forward and tried to cut down the ring, Wilder landed another hard right hand; putting him into retreat mode. Wilder then jumped on the attack, throwing one right hand after another; and trapping Breazeale into a corner.

Wilder was seeking the finish, but Breazeale countered with two right hands that caught the defending champion’s attention. With less than one minute left in the round, Wilder hit Breazeale with the bombs-away right hand; to which his legs crumbled as he landed on his back with his arms and legs spread wide against the canvas.

The Brooklyn crowd of 13,181 erupted into a frenzy upon the shot. Breazeale managed to get back to his feet, but failed to beat Referee Harvey Dock’s count, who called a stop to the contest at two minutes, and 17 seconds of round one.

“Everything just came out of me tonight,” said Wilder. “I know it’s been a big buildup to this fight. And there was a lot of animosity, a lot chaos; a lot of hatred against each other. There was a lot of words that was said. And it just came out tonight.”

Breazeale refused to talk after the fight, with the crowd booing him as he left the ring.

Even after all their animosity leading up to the fight, Wilder went over to embrace Breazeale and shared some words with him.

“I just told Breazeale I love him,” said Wilder. “And of course I wanna see him go home to his family. I know we say some things that we mean sometimes. But then when you get into a fight, and you settle your differences as men, and you hold these gloves up; this is what the sport is all about.”

The fight that the boxing public would like to see is a clash between Wilder and unified champion Anthony Joshua (22-0, 21KOs). Although several attempts fell apart, Wilder assures that the much anticipated showdown will get made.

“This fight will happen, the best fight will happen; I promise you that,” said Wilder. “With come patience, come time. And I just need you guys to have patience, and give us a little time to make this thing happen. So that we all benefit from it.”