Ward, Williams Weigh-in For Crossroads Battle

By Mario Ortega Jr.

Wednesday afternoon at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California, Andre Ward and Rubin Williams weighed in for their ten-round super middleweight bout at the same location on Thursday night. The bout will be taped and televised nationally on Fox Sports Net’s Best Damn Sports Show Period on March 27th.

Ward (14-0, 9 KOs) of Oakland, California, came in at a fit and ready 168 pounds. Williams (29-3-1, 16 KOs) of Detroit, Michigan failed to make the contracted 169 pounds on his initial attempt, weighing in at 171. Williams stepped on the scales again several minutes later in the nude, unofficially weighing in at 170. Williams grabbed a plastic suit to try and work off the other pound and weigh-in again later. Either way the main event will go on as scheduled, and figures to be Ward’s toughest test since turning professional in 2004. Ward’s team attempted to line up a bout with world-rated Allan Green (26-1, 18 KOs) earlier in the year, but Green took a fight with Williams instead. Tomorrow’s fight could be a round about way of proving that Ward is indeed the superior fighter to Green, who was unimpressive in taking a decision over Williams.

The co-feature matches two unbeaten, crowd-pleasing welterweights for six rounds. Karim Mayfield (5-0-1, 5 KOs) of Daly City, California weighed in at 148 pounds. His opponent Francisco Santana (8-0, 4 KOs) of Santa Barbara, California scaled 147. The two fighters have combined to fight at the HP Pavilion six times in their young careers. It is rare that two undefeated fighters with a local following meet each other at this stage in their career. It figures to be an entertaining battle as long as it lasts, and could end up being the fight of the night. Mayfield has knocked out two consecutive unbeaten opponents. Santana is coming in off of a fourth-round knockout of Ben Aragon, who has fought mainly as a middleweight and managed to go three rounds with Andre Ward.

The card also includes four interesting four-round bouts. Winners of the four bouts on Thursday will be eligible to win the “AMI Cup,” a monetary bonus, and a return slot on an upcoming Fight Night at the Tank card. The crowd will vote by applause for which preliminary winner they believe had the best performance. It was also recently announced that all four bouts will air on Fox Sports Net at a later date, which is virtually unheard of for preliminary fighters, many of whom are making their pro debuts on Thursday.

The most notable name on the preliminary card is current WBC Minimumweight Champion Carina Moreno (16-1, 5 KOs) of Watsonville, California. Moreno, fighting a rare four-round bout, weighed in at 106 pounds. Moreno’s opponent, Mayela Perez (7-5-1, 6 KOs) of Saltillo, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Mexico also came in at 106 pounds. While Perez’ last bout is listed as an unsuccessful attempt at the vacant Interim WBC Super Flyweight title in 2006, she mentioned that she did fight in Mexico in 2007, but that the results of the bouts have not been widely reported. Moreno already has two big bouts scheduled after Thursday. Moreno, the WBC Female Fighter of the Year, will defend her title on the April 17th card at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California against South Korean Dan-Bi Kim (4-0, 1 KO). She is also slated to meet Eileen Olszewski (5-0-1) for the vacant IFBA Light Flyweight title on a June 13th female pay-per-view card from the Isleta Resort & Casino in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Three noteworthy amateur standouts make their professional debuts on Thursday. 2006 National PAL Champion Rico Ramos, of Los Angeles, California, makes his pro debut against tough Sammy Yniguez (2-1-1) of Oak Hills, California. Ramos weighed in at 120 ½ pounds, with Yniguez scaling 121. Jackie Kallen-managed U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier Mike Dallas Jr. of Bakersfield, California debuts against Alejandro Balladares of Fontana, California, who will also be making his pro debut. Dallas came in at 143 ½ pounds, while Balladares weighed in at 141 ½ pounds. Eric Garcia, who trains under the respected Garcia Boxing banner out of Salinas, California, makes his pro debut against comparative veteran Marlo Cortez (2-4-1, 1 KO) of Van Nuys, California. Garcia scaled 146 ½ pounds, while Cortez came in at 147.

Tickets for the card, promoted by Goossen Tutor Promotions, are available online at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 408-998-TIXS.

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com