Ward takes title home, puts Oakland
back on the map
Mark E. Ortega
FightFanNation.com
November 21, 2009
In front of just over 10,200 fans,
Oakland, California's very own Olympic Gold medalist Andre Ward
reached the goal he and trainer Virgil Hunter set out to conquer more
than fifteen years ago, totally dismantled veteran warrior Mikkel
Kessler at the Oracle Arena Saturday night via eleventh round
technical decision, earning the WBA super middleweight title as well
as securing great position for himself in Showtime's Super Six World
Boxing Classic.
Ward completely dominated from the
outset, utilizing his jab and superior handspeed to totally befuddle
the reigning champion. In the first round, Ward pushed the jab out
and followed it with right hands, and as he grew more comfortable he
began to throw lead right hands and hooks as well. Ward opted to
switch to southpaw midway through the round and landed the left jab
with regularity out of that stance. Ward was surprisingly comfortable
on the inside against a fighter many considered the stronger man.
Kessler had some success going to the
body early on in the fight but that was the furthest he would get
offensively. Kessler had perhaps his best round in the second, but
Ward was successful with right hooks and boxed beautifully around the
ring.
In the fourth round, Kessler landed a
good clubbing right midway through the round, but Ward came right
back with three punches of his own. The referee signaled that there
was a cut caused by a punch, but in between rounds the referee
seemingly changed his mind and ruled it due to a headbutt, and that
the cut was opened further by a punch.
Kessler was fighting Ward evenly for
much of the fifth, but Ward was landing the more impressive punches,
causing Kessler's head to snap back numerous occasions with crisp
jabs and right hands. Ward turned southpaw at the end of the round
again.
Ward started widening the gap in the
sixth, as Kessler seemed more and more hesitant to engage with him.
Ward continued his dominance in the seventh, as he began to lead with
right hands as well as mix in some left uppercuts. Ward's hand speed
had Kessler in trouble all throughout the bout, and Kessler was
unable to close the gap in hand speed.
Kessler looked like a beaten fighter by
the ninth round, seemingly going through the motions as the younger
and fresher Ward pressed forward with his attack. Ward began fighting
like a guy who was anything but weary of Kessler's power, firing off
quick one-twos and circling around Kessler in the center of the ring.
Ward continued his dominance into the
championship rounds, outboxing Kessler while staying out of the range
of Kessler's right hand. Midway into the eleventh round, Kessler was
deemed unable to continue due to a cut caused by a headbutt, forcing
the fight to go to the scorecards. The official scorecards read
97-93, and 98-92 twice for the newly-crowned WBA champion out of
Oakland, California. Ward walked away from the bout nearly unscathed,
with nothing more than a mouse appearing outside of his right eye.
Kessler was much more worse for the wear, having secured more than a
few cuts throughout the bout.
With the win, Ward positions himself in
the Super Six tournament as a favorite to advance to the semi-finals
considering his next two opponents, Jermain Taylor and Andre Dirrell,
both lost their “Stage One” bouts and were seen as the weaker
links in the monumental tournament.
“He didn't like the inside work, the
body shots, sometimes he'd be grunting,” said an ecstatic Ward in
the post-fight press conference. “We knew that going in, so part of
what I wanted to do was make it rough. I got a little overanxious
sometimes and he would counter me sometimes, but honestly he never
buzzed me, he never hurt me.”
Ward is a fighter who has been
criticized throughout his career for numerous things, but few can
look at this fight and take something away from Ward who thoroughly
dominated a guy that many pegged as the favorite to win the
tournament.
“They had questions about my chin
early on. I fought Miranda, and he's as hard a hitter as they come
and I got hit more in that fight than I wanted to, and came right
back and still didn't get credit,” Ward said.
“Then they said, 'Kessler, he's a big
puncher...if he hits Ward, he's going to be in trouble.' Well
I got hit a few times tonight, I felt that we showed ourselves
strong, we came right back, and I just think over time people are
going to have to give us our just due. I'm not going to demand it
with my words, I'm just going to keep proving it in the ring.”
Ward's promoter, Dan Goossen,
elaborated further. “Tonight, I think he won America over and I
don't think there are going to be too many naysayers. I think he is a
new star that people are going to believe in.”
It only took twenty-one professional
fights and two world championships [one in Athens in 2004 and the
super middleweight crown he lifted on Saturday], but Ward will
assuredly be getting his proper credit after delivering a virtuoso
performance over a tough opponent.
UNDERCARD RESULTS:
In a scheduled eight-round junior
middleweight bout, Daly City, California's Karim “Hard Hitta”
Mayfield [11-0-1, 7 KOs] started out slowly before laying a beating
on Santa Barbara, California's Francisco Santana [11-2, 5 KOs] via
fifth round technical knockout in a rematch of a March 2008 bout that
Mayfield won by razor-thin split decision.
The first round saw both guys fight
tentatively with Karim landing the only two meaningful punches of the
round, two clubbing overhand rights. In the second round, Mayfield
worked his jab and followed up with left hooks. Both fighters held a
lot throughout the fight until they opened up in the fifth round.
Mayfield started the action with a sweeping right hook that landed on
the chin of Santana. Mayfield followed with a flurry against the
ropes that featured hooks to the body and clubbing overhand rights
that eventually dropped Santana. After his opponent returned to his
feet, Mayfield went in for the kill and landed a wicked left hook to
the body that setup another right hook and a follow-up overhand right
that put Santana down a second time and prompted referee Dan Stell to
wave off the fight at 2:27 of the fifth round.
In a four-round super middleweight
bout, Oakland, California's Tony Hirsch [10-3-1, 5 KOs] notched the
biggest win of his career in outgunning former #1 rated welterweight
contender and Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. opponent Jose Celaya via a
unanimous decision victory.
In an over-the-weight four-round
lightweight affair, Antelope, California's Stan Martyniouk [8-0, KO]
outboxed Anthony Martinez [21-33-3, 9 KOs] of Turrialba, Costa Rica.
Martyniouk fought at a measured pace in the opening round, moving
beautifully while mixing in varied punch combinations. Martyniouk
stuck to his game plan in the second, moving around the ring before
planting his feet and firing off left hook and left uppercuts at
will.
Martinez had a few moments in the round
where he trapped Stan in the corner and fired off a few good body
shots. The third round saw Martyniouk fairly dominate the round
behind his jab and superior handspeed. In the final round, Martyniouk
trapped Martinez against the ropes and unleash a flurry of punches
before Martinez postured against the ropes. All three judges scored
the bout a shutout for Martyniouk, 40-36. UBR scored the bout 40-36
as well.
In the opening fight of the night, Mel
Crossty [4-0-1, KO] of Cincinnati, Ohio scored an early knockdown in
round one en route to a unanimous decision victory over the game but
outmatched Carlos Herrera [2-3, KO] of Oxnard, California in a super
featherweight attraction. Crossty's knockdown of Herrera in the
opening round was more of a glancing blow that caused the glove of
Herrera to touch the canvas, prompting the referee to issue a count.
The two fighters opened up in the third with both guys landing
vicious shots. Crossty boxed a little more in the final stanza but
Herrera landed a big overhand right every so often. The official
scores of the bout were 39-36 and 40-35 twice. UBR scored the bout
39-36 for Crossty.
Saturday night's card was promoted by
Goossen-Tutor Promotions in association with Sauerland Event and
Antonio Leonard Productions. The main event was televised on Showtime
Championship Boxing as part of their Super Six World Boxing Classic
as well as internationally.
