Andre Ward's star is shining extremely brightly after he stopped
fellow American Chad Dawson in ten rounds on Saturday night.
On paper this should have been a well matched contest but in
reality to turned into a one-side affair.
Ward, the recent winner of Showtime's Super Six World Boxing
Classic, took charge of the action in the third round and from then
on it was only a matter of time before he put his 26th
career win in the books.
In round three a short left forced Ward to a knee and a round
later the Connecticut southpaw tasted the canvas yet again.
As the fight progressed, Ward continued to limit Dawson's
punches while at the same time stepping up his own two-fisted
attacks.
Ward finished things off at 2.45 of the tenth when he unleashed
a fast combination which knocked Dawson to his knees again.
Although he beat the count once more, it was clear that he
didn't want to continue and referee Steve Smoger waved it off.
"That's what we needed," Ward said. '"A lot of people in boxing
are knockout hungry. Everybody wants the knockout. I tell people
you can still entertain without a knockout. But a knockout is
always great.
"That's the last piece of the puzzle in my game that I want to
keep working on. This is the first step toward that tonight against
a top of the line opponent."
"I took a big risk fighting the bigger man. He had the advantage
in height and reach but he sacrificed the weight. In boxing you
have to take a risk to get the prize."
Dawson added: "He's a lot faster than I thought he would be. He
was strong too. I can't take anything away from him. He really is
one of the best."
It's a victory which underlines Ward's place at top of the sport
and some people are now saying that he is second only to Floyd
Mayweather Jnr in the pound for pound stakes.
09/09/2012 14:30:22