Ward shines on Showtime outclassing Miranda

Ward shines on Showtime outclassing Miranda

By Benny Henderson Jr., DoghouseBoxing (May 18, 2009) Photo © Tom Casino / SHOWTIME

Unbeaten super middleweight contender Andre Ward 19-0 (12) shined on Showtime ShoBox this past Saturday night as he outclassed the hard hitting Edison Miranda 32-4 (28) for twelve rounds silencing the critics on where he stands amongst the top of the crop of the 168-pound division.

Although unblemished thus far in his pro career, in the eyes of many Ward came into the bout against Miranda untested and unproven, but the twenty-five year old demonstrated that he had studied hard for the test and showcased his greater talents to his ringside fight fans at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA.

Both combatants came at one another in the opening round, so close that an unintentional head butt occurred leaving Ward with blood oozing down over his left eye, but the cut had no ill effect on Andre as one of the best in the business of cut men “Stitch” Duran took control during the round sealing the cut.

Miranda, who is mostly known for his heavy hands, had a few good moments in the earlier rounds but for the most part was beaten to the punch by a much faster precision punching Ward, who fended off any arsenal that Miranda had by hitting from angles.

Ward dictated the bout by keeping his range, utilizing his hand speed and catching Miranda with everything from top to bottom. Miranda seemed not to have that fire in his gut as he has shown before, or Ward extinguished flame with his style beating Miranda on the inside and outside as the two battled on.

Miranda had no answer to Ward’s arsenal, and the general consensus that Miranda needed to throw more as well as land more punches was shared by his corner who told the Columbian born boxer between rounds seven and eight, “you’ve got to hit him!”

Although Miranda did have his moments sporadically throughout the bout, it was Ward who shined as he took out Miranda with effective punching, earning him the bout unanimously via scores of 116-112 and twice 119-109. With the win Ward handed Miranda’s his fourth loss of his career and kept his own unbeaten record in tacts as he cruised to his nineteenth consecutive win as a pro.

The 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist, who retained his NABF and WBO NABO super middleweight titles with the win, also told Steve Farhood after the bout that he was not happy with his performance due to the fact that he did not knockout Miranda, strongly stating, “Carl Froch, let’s get it on, I want the real belts!”

With the division filled with the likes of Froch, Mikkel Kessler, Lucien Bute and Allan Green, there should no doubt be some great future match-ups for Ward.

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