Easy for Dominant Ward
Andre Ward made the first defence of his WBA super middleweight title and ensured his advance to the semi-final stages of the Super Siz tournament by easily defeating challenger Allan Green 120-108 on all 3 judges scorecards.
Ward looked very sharp and confident in contrast to Allan Green who seemed lethargic and uninspired throughout. Ward started well moving effectively and landing jabs, hooks and straight rights with Green moving forward slowly but not throwing much.
Ward started to fight on the inside for quite a few of the rounds and he was very effective at this, landing sharp uppercuts and hooks as he outhustled and outmuscled Green.
As the fight progressed it was becoming clear that Green did not know what to do with Ward and he would be needing to land some huge punches to turn around the fight. These punches never looked like they were coming and they were not even thrown.
As the fight moved towards the final rounds it looked like Ward was keen to score a stoppage and he threw excellent combinations, mostly on target, whilst keeping a good tight defence. He used the angles really well and he now more than ever looks like the man to beat in this tournament.
Ward easily won the last few rounds and at the end Green acknowledged Wards victory.
Green said afterwards that he had overtrained and didn't feel strong coming into the fight. He came in at 166 lbs, 2 lbs under the limit. However, I don't think Green could handle Ward no matter how strong he felt coming into the fight - Ward is simply much more skillful, clever and focussed.
Ward must now face his friend Andre Dirrell in the next stage of the tournament.
