Deontay Wilder v Bermane Stiverne II: WBC heavyweight championship – live!

Organizers say the official attendance for tonight’s event is 10,924. Feels a bit optimistic, but we’ll accept the premise. The entire mezzanine of the Barclays Center has been covered up, creating a mostly packed atmosphere in the lower bowl.

Shawn Porter has just finished off a lopsided but crowd-pleasing unanimous-decision win over Adrian Granados. All three judges handed down scores of 117-111, as did the Guardian. A one-sided affair but a hell of a fight, really.

“He gave me a little trouble here and there,” said Porter, who improved to 28-2-1 with 17 KOs. “I hurt my left hand in the sixth round, but I kept using it. I had to use my jab. It took a toll on me and by the 10th round I just couldn’t throw it anymore.

“The strategy was to keep working the jab. I knew he’d come at me periodically. I was prepared and dug deep to get the win.

“We’re gonna rest for about a week and then get back to work. We want Keith Thurman as soon as possible.”

Said Granados: “I thought that I was controlling the fight and keeping up with him the whole time. He was just trying to use his normal tricks. I rocked him multiple times and he never had me in any trouble. … He’s a brute. I thought the referee did a good job breaking up the fight at the right times. It was rough but I definitely thought I did better than the scorecards said.”

That’s it for the undercard. Wilder and Stiverne will make their ringwalks shortly.

Shawn Porter and Adrian Granados are halfway through the scheduled 12 rounds of their welterweight scrap. It’s been a wildly entertaining affair so far with a steady stream of two-way action, but Porter is clearly getting the better of the exchanges and is ahead six rounds to none on my card.

Those waiting for the main event can expect Wilder and Stiverne to make their ringwalks in the next half hour.

Sergey Lipinets has just outpointed Japan’s Akihiro Kondo for the vacant IBF junior welterweight title. It was an evenly matched, highly entertaining scrap hardly reflected by the official scores of 118-110, 117-111 and 117-117, which prompted a cascade of boos from the crowd of several thousand on hand.

“I think the scorecards were accurate but it was a good fight,” said Lipinets, who improved to 13-0 with 11 KOs. “The head butt really impaired my vision and it led to me walking into some stupid shots. … I’m happy with my performance. I’m just going to keep getting better from here. I’m ready to take any on challenge thrown my way.”

Said Kondo (29-6-1, 16 KOs): “It was a fair decision. He hit me with a lot of hard punches and I felt like I needed at least a knockdown in the last round.

“I made up my mind that I wasn’t going to show any pain or fear from his punches. I was determined to keep fighting all night. I’m going to go back and get stronger and stronger to get back in the ring. I’m thankful for this opportunity and I congratulate Sergey on a great performance. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

One more fight before the main event: a 12-round welterweight title between former champion Shawn Porter (27-2-1, 17 KOs) and Adrian Granados (18-5-2, 11 KOs).

Hello and welcome to Brooklyn for tonight’s heavyweight title rematch between Deontay Wilder and Bermane Stiverne. Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs) is making his sixth defense of the WBC’s version of the heavyweight title, a belt which he captured from Stiverne (25-2-1, 21 KOs) back in January 2015. That was the first real test of the Olympic bronze medalist’s career and he came through, although he was extended the distance for the first and only time to date.

Wilder’s opponent tonight was meant to be rugged contender Luis “King Kong” Ortiz, but Ortiz flunked a drug test and Stiverne stepped in to save the show despite having only one fight in the last three years – a less-than-scintillating points win over the journeyman Derric Rossy in 2015. Which has made most observers not terribly optimistic about the Floridian’s chances and the event itself, though a spectacular performance by Wilder tonight would certainly stoke interest in a unification bout with Anthony Joshua, who defended the IBF and WBA titles last week in Cardiff.

Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime, why not look back on Kevin Mitchell’s assessment of the heavyweight division.