Last night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward overcame a slow start before dominating aggressive yet limited Arthur Abraham over twelve rounds. With the victory Ward moves improves to 24-0 with 13 knockouts by more importantly advances to the finals of the Super Six tournament, where he will meet the winner of next month’s Carl Froch-Glen Johnson duel.
Ward has a style that is hard to peg, as he has a blend of pure athleticism, great boxing fundamentals, and overall unorthodoxy that leaves much of his opponents confused as how to figure him out. While at times showing shades of a younger and less-blazing Roy Jones Jr. and other moments showing cagey craft and guile like a Bernard Hopkins, Ward’s latest string of victories have shown his overall versatility and ability to adapt.
<--- Slideshow: Andre Ward rolls on to the Super Six finals
Against Abraham he was out of sync early as the rugged Armenian applied steady pressure and swung for the fences. Ward seemed to give away the early round before stepping on the gas pedal a bit and taking command in the fourth. From there is was pretty much smooth sailing as Ward fending off Arthur with a pinpoint jab and boxed circles around him.
The winner of the Froch-Johnson fight will surely make for an interesting fight against Ward and each man is coming off of highlight victories, Johnson having stopped Allan Green last November at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and Froch hammering Abraham himself in the same month. Ward is extremely talented but his style can be rather monotonous and void of any real action or suspense.
Here’s hoping that Froch or Johnson bring out the best in the 27-year old American champion.
Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He can be reached at [email protected]
