Bomb Disposal Expert: Andre Ward Shows Substance Over Style
By: Andrew Harrison
Category: Uncategorized
| Aperture: | f/2.8 |
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| Focal Length: | 55mm |
| ISO: | 1250 |
| Shutter: | 1/640 sec |
| Camera: | NIKON D80 |
Although pre-fight comparisons with Ray Leonard and Roy Jones made for good copy, they were always likely to prove difficult ones to live up to for Andre Ward. In completely dominating Allan Green from first bell to last in Oakland on Saturday evening, he proved that although the name checking of Sugar and Jr. was slightly off beam, he may still emerge as the second coming of a boxing great. Rather than a theatrical performance featuring improvised moves, razzle dazzle and tassled boots, we wound up with something tantamount to a legalised mugging. Instead of bolos in combo and punches thrown from behind his back, Ward employed strategic nous backed up with a mechanic’s skill set and even threw in a couple of head butts for good measure.
Bernard Hopkins would have approved.
Ward swept every round of a rather tepid encounter, romping to a resounding decision victory by scores of 120-108 on all cards. The pattern of the fight was established pretty early on and, save for a decent left hook landed in round four, Green was a bystander for the most part. In fact, so one-sided were proceedings I quickly stopped watching in thrill seeking spectator mode and focussed instead on the technical nuances Ward was using to render Green as impotent as a Saga veteran with an allergy to blue pills.
Ward and his mentor Virgil Hunter knew that Green possessed one world class weapon and one only; his left hook. In true Hopkins fashion, “S.O.G” as Ward is known, neutralised its threat expertly. This was The Hurt Locker without the drama. He threw a chopping, angled right hand at Green repeatedly, both diffusing the risk of a left hook coming back whilst also guarding against it should it arrive by leaning in with his shot to minimise Green’s punching space and virtually eliminate the Tulsa man’s target area.
Ward approached Green from outside of his lead left foot and winged in spiteful right hooks to the body to dissuade his man from releasing his guard long enough to throw his leveller. The Oakland wiz also held onto Green’s left arm in close and in true, quintessential Hopkins style, lowered his head into Allen’s chest and pushed off with his back leg in order to bully his man to the ropes. Here, he worked Green over time and time again, crowding and smothering his tall and long limbed opponent before shooting in quick and hurtful looking short thumps which more often than not found their mark.
It was somewhat surprising to see referee Raul Caiz allowing Andre to maul and batter Green against the strands. One was used to seeing such leeway granted back when Roberto Duran was doing his thing, however, these days fighters rarely have the opportunity to wrestle and hold up close before they’re being ordered to break- just ask Ricky Hatton. The home fighter seized upon this freedom expertly, pushing his lowered noggin into Green’s face to manoeuvre his mug into position where he could better wallop it. As ever in boxing, consistency would be appreciated from the officials in the handling of such rough stuff going forward.
Green, as was the case against Edison Miranda in his previous step up in class, fell short when the big occasion asked him to stand tall. Post fight he cited weight making struggles as the main culprit, just as he did when being dominated by the Colombian slugger back in 2007. In truth, he met a man who fights several levels above anything he could muster on his best day.
Ward’s odds to win the tournament will undoubtedly have shortened after this performance, so difficult does he look to beat. An interview with Boxing News last week offered much about the type of operator he has transformed himself into. When asked about the best fight he’d ever seen, Ward replied:
“I get excited when guys show their mastery. I’d probably say Floyd Mayweather against Diego Corrales but also Bernard Hopkins against Tito Trinidad”.
Like those master craftsmen Andre is a dominator and a neutraliser, a nullifier of the highest order. He’s the next generation’s bomb disposal expert, the guy who makes dismantling an explosive force look as easy as snipping a red piece of wire with pliers. There are more dramatic ways to get the job done but rarely are there any more effective.
The new Bernard Hopkins then? If so get used to hearing Ward’s name for a good while yet.
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