Andre S.O.G. Ward 25-0 (13 KO?s) in responding to a question once told me, ?I was taught from day one to be a master in the sport, period. And to make a hard fight look as easy as possible.? Well this past Saturday night at the historic Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, no matter how hard it may have been for him inside the ring against Nottingham, England?s Carl ?The Cobra? Froch 28-2 (20 KO?s), it appeared to all those on the outside looking in, that this was an ordinary task, and/or something second nature to the Oakland, California native, as he would with the utmost of skill remain undefeated while handily capturing the Showtime Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament trophy cup by turning in a one sided performance that would garner a unanimous decision victory. For not only would Andre exhibit total dominance all night long by keeping one step ahead of a formidable adversary in one Carl Froch, but Ward in specifically controlling all phases of the bout would repeatedly beat ?The Cobra? to the punch by landing a stiff jab, a solid left hook, and an occasional right hand, while superbly moving defensively to avoid being hit with anything significant. The end result would be that Andre S.O.G Ward in addition to being awarded the tournament?s coveted trophy cup, he would also add the WBC belt to his existing WBA title, as well as become the Ring Magazine champion to sit atop the super middleweight division all by his lonesome. With seemingly all the stars aligning perfectly for Andre on fight night, there was only one thing that would seem out of kilter for the now unified champion, and that would come in the form of two scorecards handed in by both judges Craig Metcalf and John Stewart, who would each come up with a final tally of 115-113 in favor of Ward in a fight where the large majority of press and other observers at ringside had S.O.G. clearly winning as many as 10 or 1l rounds, leading everyone to speculate; what fight were these judges watching? A more accurate score would have been 119-109 or 118-110, which ironically was the score concluded by John Keane, the one solitary judge from Froch? native country of England. Be that as it may, those in attendance would witness a near flawless performance turned in by Ward who probably would best describe it himself as to how he in fact dominated so thoroughly. ?We were able to beat him to the punch and that?s what won us the fight. We wanted to fight on the inside, and we wanted to fight on the outside, and we pulled it off. My run through the Olympics was supernatural, and me coming in as a young pup winning the tournament was supernatural,? stated an awestruck yet humble Andre Ward. And even though he would mention in victory that, ?I hurt my left hand during training but I couldn?t say anything about it,? and that, ?I hit him on top of the head in the sixth round but we fought through it,? nobody would have the slightest idea that this would indeed be the case as Ward would put on his best performance as a professional. Not only would he control the Englishman at range by landing his jab and straight right hand, to either subsequently back away or more often than not get inside of the lengthier reach of Froch to smother his attack, but he would set the pace by making space to punch when he was ready, landing to both body and head in combination after which Ward would slip, roll, and or pick off most if not all of Carl? return fire in as brilliant an all around performance as one could give. As to confirmation of Ward? superior effort that would be on display on such an historic evening, one would have to look no further than a gracious and humble Carl Froch himself who would testify, ?I wanted to put shots together but he ducks, and slides, and he?s very good at that. I never found myself in the zone. It was a bad night for me. I couldn?t get anything going. He was either to close smothering me, or too far out of range. The name of the game is to not get hit and he did that well. I lost the fight fair and square.?
