Andre Ward pitches a shutout to dominate Allan Green

Andre Ward pitches a shutout to dominate Allan Green

By John J. Raspanti at ringside (June 20, 2010) Doghouse Boxing (Photo © German Villasenor)

It took WBA super middleweight champion Andre “S.O.G.” Ward all of half a round to dissect Alan Green, after that it was total domination. Ward won every round of the twelve round affair, retaining his super middleweight championship and advancing to the semi-finals of the Super Six Boxing Classic. For all Greens pre-fight yammering about being the stronger and aggressive fighter, it was “hummingbird”, as Green called Ward, who outmuscled and outfought him.

A hummingbird with some major sting.

The first round started slowly as Ward moved cautiously around the ring, slipping and sliding and firing a jab and few left hooks that got Green’s attention. Green followed Ward but didn’t do much of anything, flicking out a jab that Ward easily blocked. In the second round Ward landed a pretty big left hook, followed by a jab and right hand as Green continued to pose. Ward popped Green again with the jab and then fired a clean right hand that snapped Green’s head back as his hometown crowd chanted S.O.G.

Most of the third round could have been fought in a phone booth. Green had his back on the ropes for two of the three minutes, trying to figure out a way to hit the champion. Ward on the other hand had no problem finding Green, snapping his back again with an assortment of short crisp punches, and completely nullifying Green’s power. The next few rounds were more of the same as Ward happily stayed inside the pocket firing his short shorts and constantly beating the befuddled Green to the punch. Near the end of the fifth round Ward landed a pretty right left combination that seemed to stun Green for a moment.

Green landed his best punch of the fight in the sixth round, a short left hook that caught Ward on the side of the head. Ward immediately fought back, nailing Green with a quick combination. Green’s face was beginning to swell up, courtesy of Ward’s sharper punches. By the eighth round it was apparent that Green was losing all hope of winning. He tried to load up a few times with his vaunted left hook, but it all it found was air and Ward poised to jar him with more shots to the body and head. Ward continued his overwhelming of Green down the stretch, pushing him against the ropes and nailing him with more hooks from assorted angles.

The scoring of the fight was anticlimactic as all three judges gave Ward the shutout victory by scores of 120-108. Wards record is now 22-0, with 13KOs, while Green suffered the second loss of his career.

After the fight Ward revealed that he had a game plan in place for Green but ditched it when it became obvious Green couldn’t his inside game.

"We planned to go inside but not after the second round," Ward said. "But Green obliged me, and I thought, 'OK’. I expected a tougher fight, a different kind of fight."

Green commented that he felt overtrained and weak. Still, he has nothing but respect for Ward.

"Andre Ward showed me a lot and I respect him. I fought hard but not effectively."

After the fight I asked Virgil Hunter, Andre Ward’s trainer, about Greens comment about overtraining.

“He went twelve rounds,” replied Hunter with a smile. “He survived…what’s over training? Who’s to say?”

In the preliminaries Steve Chambers 22-1 (6) who hails from the city of brotherly love, easily captured a unanimous decision victory over gritty Hector Alatorre 16-10 (5). Chambers was cut in the third round but his superior hand speed was way too much for the overmatched Alatorre. Judges Marshall Walker and Jon Schurle scored the fight 79-73 while judge Kermit Bayless had it 80-72 all for Chambers.

In an eight round bout for the NABO Youth light heavyweight championship, undefeated Michael Tucker was awarded a unanimous decision over the very determined Billy Bailey. The fight was a give and take affair with Bailey the aggressor throughout, while Tucker landed some nice shots from the outside. The crowd booed loudly as the scores were being announced 78-74 and 77-75 twice. Tucker is now 14-0 with 7 KOs while Bailey falls to 10-8 (4).

Welterweight Alexander Petrovzov 2-0 and John Dunman 1-6 (1) tangled in an entertaining four rounder with Petrovzov winning a close majority decision by scores of 39-37, 39-37 and 38-38. The taller Petrovzov went toe to toe with Dunman landing some good shots but also being on the receiving end of some strong right hands from Dunman.

Two minutes into the first round young Michael Ruiz 3-0 (1) found himself on the seat of his pants after being caught with right hand from Juan Tepoz 4-3 (1). Seemingly woken up by the knockdown the southpaw Ruiz was landing the more effective punches by the end of the round. Tepoz battled back but Ruiz was the quicker fighter stunning Tepoz on a number of occasions and ultimately earning a well deserved unanimous decision victory.

In the final bout of the evening Willie Nelson upped his record to 14-0-1 (9) with a first stoppage of Jesse Feliciano, whose record falls to 15-10-3 (9). Nelson was just to fast and powerful for Feliciano.

The announced crowd attendance was 8,797.

Questions/comments john.raspanti@activant.com

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