Ward’s Jive Lost in Translation; Green Dominated in Oakland

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA — Andre Ward continued to prove why he is the class of the super middleweight division as he completely schooled Allan Green over twelve rounds before 8,797 at the Oracle Arena in the most one-sided fight of the Super Six World Boxing Classic thus far.

Green (29-2, 20 KOs) of Tulsa, Oklahoma claimed in the build-up to their fight that he understood jive, and that was the reason why he would do what Mikkel Kessler could not – defeat Andre Ward. That statement proved to be completely false as Green had no answers for anything Ward did inside the ring on Saturday night.

Ward (21-0, 13 KOs) of Oakland began to exact his dominance in the third, as he pressed Green to the ropes and kept him there. Ward remained in Green’s face, as he found success with his uppercut with the Tulsa native’s back against the ropes. Ward, 167 ¾, continued to do excellent work as the third round continued. Green, refusing to move away from the ropes, was hit by everything in Ward’s varied attack, including a clean right hook, body shots and the uppercut.

The fourth round looked like much the third, as Ward continued to prove to be an adept inside fighter. Ward began the fifth fighting at long range seemingly to just show that he could dominate at that distance just as much as he had done at close quarters the previous stanza. A brief exchange late in the round would give great insight to Ward’s superiority over Green. A right landed for Ward, he then blocked Green’s retort and landed a clean counter to close the round. If Green, 166, could not compete effectively on the outside, he had no shot in the fight.

Green resorted to holding for much of the sixth, especially after Ward got him in trouble early in the frame. Ward opened up a bit with Green against the ropes again, landing a clean left hook to close the round. Green was clearly a beaten and dejected fighter as he sat down on his stool before the seventh.

By the seventh round, the lead right hand thrown at long range had become a lethal weapon for Ward. The Oakland native began to utilize feints to find openings for clean blows throughout the middle rounds. Green looked completely lost, with his will to make the fight apparently depleted. With Green in survival mode, Ward picked his shots as the fight progressed.

As the fight wound down, Green would get caught clean at times, often while he looked to tie up Ward. The only question that remained was whether or not Ward would rally to score the knockout, or if Green would hang on until the final bell. To Green’s credit, he did not take the easy way out, and made it to the final bell. As the fight concluded, Oakland celebrated as their fighting son soaked in the adulation. Scores revealed the fight to be a shutout, as judges Glenn Feldman, Marty Sammon and Alfredo Polanco unanimously scored the bout 120-108 for Ward.

Somewhat expectedly Green gave Ward credit for the win, but found an excuse to justify the one-sided defeat. “Ward fought a hell of a fight,” said Green in the immediate aftermath. “I came in at 166, which was a little lower than I expected, and I feel it sapped me. I felt extremely weak. I trained hard, but I don’t feel I did it effectively.”

Despite failing to win a single round against Ward tonight, Green will fight Mikkel Kessler for his WBC Super Middleweight title later this year in Group Stage 3 of the Super Six tournament. At a press conference last month, Ward’s trainer Virgil Hunter had stated his belief that Green would go on to defeat Kessler in the next stage, but tonight’s fight seemed to curb those feelings.

“If he can make the adjustments, he’s got a style that can be successful for him against Kessler,” Hunter said. “But if he comes in like he did tonight, I think Kessler is going to cut right through him. Because of the type of fighter Kessler is. But Kessler will put himself at risk, so Allan Green does have a puncher’s chance.”

Ward had a conversation with Green after the fight that offers some insight on that Group Stage 3 match-up. “Before this fight, I liked Allan Green [to beat Kessler,]” said Ward. “But he revealed some things to me after the fight, about his weight, how he needs to go up to 175- and how he felt flat. I told him, ‘if you train smart and get the weight off smart I think you can beat Kessler and go get the belt.’ But he kind of seemed out of it, and he was like ‘yeah, well, I don’t know.’ So if that weight is that big of a deal, I would have to lean towards Kessler.”

“But if he can regroup and get the weight off the right way and still be strong, I think he has a bit more than Kessler,” said Ward, who could have a bright career has an analyst later on in life. “But he has got to prove it. You have got to stop the talk and you have got to be able to prove you can compete at this level. Kessler has proved it, he has not yet.”

Perhaps the most anticipated Group Stage 3 pairing will be Ward’s title defense against his former 2004 U.S. Olympic teammate and close friend Andre Dirrell. No fight to take place in the tournament thus far has a deeper back-story. If you have been following the Fight Camp 360° documentary series on Showtime, then you have seen them root for one another every step of the way. It was apparent at the post-fight press conference that Ward does have mixed feelings about the bout.

“It will be difficult to fight Andre Dirrell in the upcoming fight, but I am going to put that aside for now,” said Ward. “We have got to find a way to get it done. But I have never experienced it before, so I can’t really say how I am going to feel. We have just got to find a way to get it done.”

Many fight pundits have expressed concerns regarding the unnerving end to Dirrell’s disqualification victory over Arthur Abraham in Group Stage 2 in March. Dirrell, who was defenseless after having slipped to a knee, was hit by a devastating blow from Abraham. In the moments that immediately followed, Dirrell was incoherent and inconsolable. Ward believes that his good friend is in fine health, and that scary scene will have no bearing on their fight.

“I think he is ok,” stated Ward. “I think it looked bad, but I think a lot of people are a little too worried about it. It was a concussive kind of shot, but I don’t think it was a career-ending shot or anything like that. I think he is fine, he is still silly as ever. He is still Andre to me, so I don’t think it is a problem.”

Win or lose against Dirrell later this year, Andre Ward has clinched his place in the semi-finals of the Super Six with the four points he has earned after two fights. Having scored the tournament’s only knockout, Abraham is sitting pretty with three points, while the rest of the field will be fighting for their tournament existence in the third stage. What is most clear after tonight, Andre Ward is the man to beat.

Junior welterweight Steve Upsher Chambers (22-1-1, 6 KOs) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania remained undefeated as he boxed his way to a unanimous eight-round decision over Hector Alatorre (16-10, 5 KOs) of Tulare, California in the last fight before the main event.

Chambers, 144, was cut in the third round by what was ruled an accidental head clash, but failed to allow that to bother him at anytime in the bout. Alatorre, 142 ½, hit the canvas in the fourth, possibly from a left hand, however referee Dan Stell ruled that it was slip. It was not clear from ringside what caused Alatorre to go down, but soon after the Tulare resident was clearly stunned. Chambers pressed Alatorre the rest of the round, but was unable to fully capitalize on the moment.

As the fourth round came to a close, it looked as though Chambers may score his seventh stoppage, but the Philly fighter let off the gas pedal and cruised to the decision the rest of the way. Alatorre failed to threaten at any point and was unable to solve the puzzle of the smooth-boxing Chambers. Judge Kermit Bayless scored the fight a shutout, 80-72, while Marshall Walker and Jon Schorle both had it 79-73.

Tough luck light heavyweight Billy Bailey (10-8, 4 KOs) of Bakersfield, California rocked unbeaten prospect Mark Tucker (14-0, 7 KOs) of Eldersburg, Maryland several times over eight rounds, but failed to win over the judges who scored the fight unanimously for his DiBella Entertainment-promoted opponent.

Bailey, 175, got off to a great start, as he rocked Tucker, 175, with a couple clubbing overhand rights to close round one. As the fight progressed, Bailey would get outworked by the jab-and-move style of Tucker for stretches, but then clearly land the harder shots. Tucker found his rhythm in round four, the one round that was clearly his. The pace slowed in the next two rounds which favored the boxer Tucker.

Bailey regained control of the fight in the seventh as he landed a solid combination that buckled Tucker’s knees late in the round. Tucker resulted to clutching the onrushing Bailey and even ducked his head out of the top rope to avoid shots in several instances. The eighth looked much like the final minute of the seventh, as Bailey chased down a wobbly Tucker looking to land the one punch he needed to score a knockdown. Unfortunately for Bailey, Tucker managed to grapple and move enough to avoid a potentially fight-ending blow.

Judges Marshall Walker and Jon Schorle both scored the bout 77-75, while Judge Kermit Bayless had the fight a puzzling 78-74 for Tucker. The official scores read by the ring announcer were vehemently booed by the crowd on hand. With the victory, Tucker claimed the inaugural WBO NABO Youth Light Heavyweight title.

Fight fans that made their way to the arena promptly at the five o’clock start time were treated to an entertaining four-round slugfest as Alexander Podrezov (2-0) of Los Angeles, California by way of Sukhumi, Abkhazi scored a four-round majority decision over game journeyman John Dunham (1-6-1) of Stockton, California. Outside of a dominant third round, Podrezov, 144, was pushed in every frame by the free-swinging Dunham, 142. In the end Judge Marshall Walker had the fight even, 38-38, but was overruled by the scores of Jon Schorle and Kermit Bayless, who had the fight 39-37 for Podrezov.

In the first of two walkout bouts, former amateur star Michael Ruiz Jr. (3-0, 1 KO) of Fresno, California survived the first scare of his professional career, coming off of the canvas to score a four-round unanimous decision over Juan Tepoz (4-3-1) of Santa Rosa, California. Pacheco, 118, came right at Ruiz, 117 ½, eventually landing a right hand to down him in the first round. Ruiz, likely a bit shaken by the blow, got up quick and made it to the bell. As the fight went on, Ruiz began to flash his superior boxing skills, landing his cleanest shots after countering the aggressive Tepoz. After a fourth round that clearly favored the Fresno native, all three judges, Kermit Bayless, Jon Schorle and Marshall Walker, had the fight for Ruiz by the score of 38-37.

In the final fight of the evening, welterweight prospect Willie Nelson (14-0-1, 8 KOs) of Cleveland, Ohio scored a first-round stoppage over faded former title challenger Jesse Feliciano (15-10-3, 9 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada. Nelson, 148, came right at Feliciano, 149, who was all too willing to engage. Nelson, who is Paul Williams-like in size, quickly landed a left jab, straight right combination to down Feliciano. The always game Feliciano got up to his feet, but was not on sturdy legs. Nelson moved in and landed a flashy combination that prompted referee Dan Stell to stop the fight at the mark of 1:23 of the first. Nelson was a replacement for former 140-pound titlist Kendall Holt, who decided he needed more time before launching his comeback at welterweight. For Feliciano, a loser of five straight bouts against high caliber competition, it appears time to call it career.

Photo by Jan Sanders/Goossen Tutor Promotions

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