BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) Deontay Wilder kept landing punches, and Johann Duhaupas kept standing there.
Wilder dominated his WBC heavyweight title defense against Duhaupas on Saturday night, landing 326 punches to only 98 by Duhaupas. But it took a flurry of nine consecutive head shots early in the 11th round before the referee stopped the fight, giving Wilder (35-0) his 34th career knockout.
''I'd hit him and it seemed like he was about to go, and then I'd hit him again and it seemed like it woke him up,'' Wilder said. ''It was like he had cement in his chin.''
Duhaupas suffered a cut on the bridge of his nose in the first round, and after that Wilder worked almost exclusively on the Frenchman's face and head.
Despite being punched repeatedly, Duhaupas (32-3) rarely seemed fazed. He nearly fell in the fifth round, but other than that Duhaupas appeared to brush off the onslaught, even as Wilder was connecting on 69 percent of his power punches (183 of 267).
''That's one of my strengths. I'm someone who is very withstanding,'' Duhaupas said through a translator. ''I was able to make him doubt himself.''
Wilder did not emerge unscathed, overcoming an early cut that resulted in noticeable swelling under his left eye beginning in the fourth round.
''We both got banged up, but he got it worse than I did,'' Wilder said. ''When you're fighting for a world title, it brings a different beast, a different animal out of fighters, and they bring their all.
''When you have guys who want what you have, they're going to give it their all. You have to give him the credit. He did an excellent job, and he definitely has my respect.''
Wilder won every round on each judge's scorecard except for the fourth, which two judges gave to Duhaupas. That was the only round when Wilder appeared to be on the defensive.
Wilder responded by coming out aggressively in the fifth, landing a swooping right hand to the side of Duhaupas' head. Wilder then trapped Duhaupas against the ropes and appeared close to delivering a knockout blow.
But Duhaupas weathered that storm and held his own until the 10th, when another flurry of punches from Wilder had Duhaupas wobbling, setting up the decisive 11th.
''We knew he was mentally tough,'' said Wilder, who received some pre-fight criticism for choosing to defend his title against the relatively unknown Duhaupas. ''The scariest people are the ones you don't know of. They are the most dangerous ones.''
The fighters stood toe-to-toe on several occasions and traded blows. At one point in the seventh round, Wilder actually left his feet as he threw a punch that once again connected with Duhaupas' head.
''Each and every fight, I prove a little bit more of what people don't know about me,'' Wilder said. ''Of course I can take a punch. Of course I can box. And I can fight inside, too. A lot of people don't know that. I displayed a lot tonight.
''There are no limits to what I can do. I'd like to thank (Duhaupas) for giving me the opportunity to show that. Without his toughness and his ability to keep coming, I wouldn't have been able to display what I did tonight.''
This was the second time in less than four months that Wilder has fought in his home state of Alabama. The Tuscaloosa native defeated Eric Molina in June with a ninth-round knockout.
''This is what it's all about, bringing the title to Alabama and bringing these warriors here to fight,'' Wilder said.
