 Andre Ward is ‘Golden’ in a Dominating Win Against his Toughest Opponent
San
Jose Ca. By:
Jeff Townsend,
BASD Boxing and MMA Writer 2004 Olympic Gold Medal winner Andre ‘S.O.G’ Ward (15-0, 10 KOs) of Oakland, CA put on a masterful performance against seasoned pro Rubin ‘Mr. Hollywood’ Williams (29-4-1, 16 KOs) of Detroit, Michigan by forcing a stoppage in the seventh round of a scheduled ten round super middleweight fight. This main event, held at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, was filmed by Fox Sports and will be televised on Fox’s “Best Damn Sports Show” on Thursday, March 27.
Despite usually fighting out of the orthodox stance, Ward would switch between orthodox and southpaw throughout this fight. Interestingly, Ward was the most effective when he was in the southpaw stance, landing straight left hands and uppercuts at will. A cut opened up over the left eye of Williams in the second round that appeared to be caused by a clash of heads. The blood flowed from the cut throughout the fight and the ringside doctor stopped the fight at the very end of the seventh round due to this cut. Ward dominated to such an extent that it almost felt like a sparring session at times. Williams had no answer for Ward’s impressive boxing skills and precision punching. It would have been hard for any opponent to look good against Ward on this night but Williams did very little to make it a competitive fight. Surprisingly, Williams was very confident before the fight. At the weigh-in, Williams said “I am coming to knockout Ward.” When asked how he was going to accomplish this against the Gold Medal winner, Williams replied simply, “behind the jab.” Even Ward’s promoter, Dan Goossen, stated at the weigh-in that Williams had one of the best jabs in boxing. However, Williams did very little in this fight and his well-regarded jab only made a few appearances. Williams was the toughest opponent that Ward has faced in his pro career based on his experience, good boxing skills and the high caliber of opponents that he has faced. Williams put up a valiant effort against Jeff Lacy (despite being knocked out) and came up with a draw against tough Antwun Echols just two fights ago. The outcome of this fight with Ward might have been predictable based on his last fight. Fighting rising star Allen Green just two months ago, Williams appeared lethargic, disinterested and slow. His performance against Green was almost exactly the same on this night with Ward. Williams is naturally bigger than Ward, fighting his whole career between 168 and 175 while Ward has fought between 160 and 168. This is the second fight in a row that Williams has come in over the weight limit and stated himself that he is planning on moving up to light heavyweight (175) in a few fights. Ward looked to be in great shape, as always, and came in right at the super middleweight limit of 168 which is where he seems to be the best at. Ward stepped up to the challenge by reminding everyone why he is close to being one of the best super middleweights in the world. At only 24 years of age, Andre Ward is definitely a fighter to watch out for. In the Battle of the Undefeated Fighters, Mayfield Wins a Close Decision In a very intriguing match-up of local unbeaten prospects, Karim ‘Hard Hitta’ Mayfield won a controversial split decision victory over Francisco Santana in a six round welterweight fight. Mayfield (6-0-1, 5 KOs) of San Francisco, CA utilized an awkward fight plan for the first three rounds by doing everything he could to keep Santana (8-1, 4 KOs) of Santa Barbara, CA from landing very many punches. Mayfield’s technique entailed jabbing and then immediately clinching or jumping in with punches and then quickly moving out of range.
Santana clearly won the fifth round but never had a chance to capitalize on the damage he inflicted on Mayfield in the previous round. In the sixth and final round, Mayfield looked to have regrouped from the earlier punishment and boxed effectively to win the round. Two judges scored the fight 58-56 for Mayfield while the other judge scored the fight 58-56 for Santana. This was a tricky fight to score and there were many loud boos when the result was announced. Santana looked incredible in the fourth and fifth rounds but, by losing the first three rounds along with the last round, there was no way he could win this fight. Karim Mayfield is a local prospect that all boxing fans should watch out for. In a pre-fight interview, Mayfield told us about how he became a professional boxer. “I was known in the community as a very good street fighter, knocking out guys who were much bigger than me” Mayfield said. “I got all sorts of nicknames – Tyson, One Hitta Quitta, Elephant”. Mayfield began an amateur career at 20 years of age, compiling a 41-5 record and turned pro at 27. He is now 30 years old and on his way to turning those street fighting battles into a successful boxing career.
In a ‘keep busy’ fight, WBC Minimum champion Carina Moreno (17-1, 5 KOs) of Watsonville, California pounded out a convincing win over Mayela Perez (7-6-1, 6 KOs) of Mexico in a four round junior flyweight fight. Moreno showcased the boxing skills that have allowed her to become one of the best female fighters in the world. Moreno presents a very tight package to her opponent, tucking her head down and moving her head effectively in order to avoid being hit. In this fight, Moreno worked behind her jab, landing a decent number of hard punches while avoiding Perez’s hard shots. Perez was a tough opponent and even forced Moreno to do some counterpunching. Moreno clearly won the fight and all three judges scored the fight 40-36, giving Moreno a unanimous decision win. Perez held her own in this four round fight which was surprising considering her record. In 13 professional fights, Perez has faced 8 fighters who were making their pro debut, meaning they had never fought professionally. That means that every fighter that she has beaten has had the exact same professional record: 0-0. Moreno was merely trying to stay active since she has had several fights fall through recently and has two fights scheduled for her before this fight with Perez even took place. Moreno is set to fight Dan-Bi Kim (4-0) on April 17 and Eileen Olszewski (5-0-1) on June 13. Undercard Results: Rico Ramos (1-0, 0 KO's) def. Sammy Yniguez (2-2-1, 0 KO's) via a 4 round unanimous decision. Eric Garcia (0-0-1) vs. Marlo Cortez (2-4-2, 1 KO) - Majority Draw in a 4 round welterweight fight. Mike Dallas Jr. (1-0, 0 KO’s) def. Alejandro Balladares (0-1, 0 KO’s) via a 4 round unanimous decision. Attendance was 4,588 for the first installation for 2008 of the American Metal & Iron Fight Night at the Tank held at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. Email Jeff with questions or comments at jtownsend@bayareasportsdrive.com
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Email Jeff with questions or comments at jtownsend@bayareasportsdrive.com
