Ward Dominates and The “Nightmare” Slices and Dices

The tournament known as the “Super Six” World Boxing Classic, entered the single elimination semi-finals last night from Carson, CA., at the Home Depot Center as undefeated 27-year-old Olympic Gold medalist and WBA Super Middleweight champion Andre “S.O.G.” Ward (24-0, 13KOs) of Oakland, routed former IBF Middleweight champion 31-year-old “King” Arthur Abraham (33-3, 26KOs) of Germany by way of Armenia, en-route to an elementary unanimous decision victory for Ward in the 12 round super middleweight main event.

While the innovative SHOWTIME round robin tournament has seen it’s ups-and-downs Ward has steadily climbed upward going from an unproven underdog to an overwhelming favorite to win the tourney, a world champion and a top 10 best on the planet.

After out classing Denmark’s Mikkel “Viking Warrior” Kessler by technical decision in the first group stage for the WBA strap, Ward shut down Jermain Taylor replacement Allan Green of Oklahoma by unanimous decision taking Green’s heart from the outset. Ward was then to meet good friend Andre Dirrell in the quarter-finals but in a fishy move Dirrell pulled out of the tournament citing a head injury from an illegal blow to the head he sustained in his previous bout, a second stage disqualification victory over Arthur Abraham after the Armenian was disqualified in the 11th round for the illegal strike.

Ward wanted to stay fresh so he kept the date originally slated for Dirrell and penciled in Australia’s Sakio Bika in a brave move due to the fact that Bika’s no tune up for anyone. Bika pulled Ward into an ugly, awkward and grueling contest but Ward dominated him nonetheless winning by unanimous decision in a non-tournament contest. Ward found himself entering the ring in California last night a huge favorite to school the Armenian by yet another unanimous decision and you’d be hard pressed to find a pundit who doesn’t believe Ward’s got the whole thing wrapped up.

“King” Arthur’s destruction of Jermain Taylor in group stage one seems like a distant memory. Since that triumph Arthur was out-boxed by Dirrell in group stage two leading up to the 11th round disqualification defeat and entered last night’s main event coming off a boxing lesson under the tutelage of England’s Carl “The Cobra” Froch (27-1, 20KOs) who sent Arthur home defeated after a 12 round unanimous decision drubbing. Abraham arrived at the Home Depot Center desperately seeking to use Ward’s frame to show the world he’s far from done, Ward would have none of that.

Abraham started the fight advancing forward and busy which is the opposite of his normal modus operandi. Thirty-five seconds into the first frame Abraham caught Ward with a stiff left jab catching the champion off guard and throwing him off balance. Ward circled to Arthur’s left while sticking mostly to the jab and torso in round one. I gave the first stanza to “King” Arthur.

In the early goings Abraham was doing what you’d expect from a fighter with his back against the wall and looking to impress, he was aggressive and letting his hands fly. Arthur’s early attack consisted of right hands and left hooks up top while going to the body with wide home run shots with both hands. Ward came back strong and busier in the 2nd round landing some very stout jabs along with a couple good blows to Abraham’s head.

The 3rd saw Arthur continue to stalk Ward aggressively, landing several nice jabs and a big right hand to the top of the head that had Andre retreating in a good frame for the Armenian. The rounds were close in the first quarter of the 12 round clash but in the 4th round Arthur Abraham strangely put his guns back in their holsters and put his ear-muffs all but taking the round off and creating the storyline for the rest of the bout.

There was a lot of rough housing as Ward found his rhythm in the 5th, out-jabbing Abraham and connecting on a crisp jab that stunned Arthur. Abraham touched Andre on the chin with a good left hook but it wasn’t enough to win the round. Arthur maintained his passive ways and Ward took over in the 6th snapping back the head of Abraham with jabs and combinations.

Ward zeroed in on a good uppercut in round 7 as well as some vicious body work while the clearly frustrated Abraham winged wild strikes to the body and was starting to look quite amateurish as “S.O.G.” began pulling away. Arthur was now dormant, covered up and letting the champion blast away. Abraham kept coming alive at the end of the rounds throwing untamed bombs but found little success.

Ward was putting his punches together and blasting Abraham with strong jabs which scored time and time again. “King” Arthur landed a hard left hook upstairs in the 9th but was countered with a two punch uppercut combination for his troubles. Ward closed the round thumping the tiring Abraham with a solid left hook then picked Arthur apart with heavy artillery in the 10th as he played with him switching from orthodox to southpaw and landing several straight lefts to the head and mid section in the process.

Abraham landed a crisp right hand to the side of Ward’s head and did it once more at the end of the 11th but it wasn’t enough to win the frame as Ward was busier and landed counter strikes upstairs. Heading into the 12th and final round Abraham needed a kayo.

There was a lot of clinching in the last period but Abraham landed two resounding left hooks in succession to the jaw of Ward. Not to be out done Andre whipped Arthur’s head with a few ambitious jabs and an arduous right to the head but I still gave the stanza to Abraham. At the end of the day it meant nothing due to Ward’s domineering performance.

When the official score cards were announced Ward won a clear-cut unanimous decision with tallies of 120-108, 118-110 and 118-111. With the easy win Andre “S.O.G.” Ward improves to 24-0 with 13 stoppages as he keeps his perfect resume intact retaining the WBA Super Middleweight gold on his quest for respect and greatness as he advances to the “Super Six” finale.

“It was a hard night’s work,” said Ward. “He is difficult to fight because he does some awkward things and is always in that turtle defense.”

Thus far Abraham’s venture into the super middleweight division has been an utter disaster and with three defeats in a row “King” Arthur is knocked from the tournament after going 1-4 as he falls to 33-3 with 26 knockouts. Maybe it’s time for Abraham to consider a trip back to 160lbs where he had much success. While I think Sergio Martinez would be the guy to stop Abraham, Arthur has name recognition and a good middleweight resume which could make for a notable middleweight clash as Sergio desperately needs a big name to beat on.

“I started well and thought I did a good job for the first three rounds. He didn’t hit me and I was blocking a lot of his shots. But then I went for the knockout and I couldn’t do it,” were Arthur Abraham’s post fight comments. Arthur also relayed he plans to continue competing at super middleweight.

After all the rumors in the boxing community surrounding a certain pugilist, said to be a newly dedicated man, boxing fans finally got to see L.A.’s slimmed-down 30-year-old heavyweight Chris “Nightmare” Arreola (31-2, 27KOs) in his anticipated backyard return after a horrible 2010 that the “Nightmare” would like to erase from his memory.

Arreola, the former NABF Heavyweight champion and current FECOMBOX Heavyweight strap keeper didn’t let his fans down as he sliced and diced the Dominican Republic’s Nagy “Dominican Dynamite” Aguilera (16-6, 11KOs), inside of 3 frames in the 10 round heavyweight co-feature.

Arreola was coming off his worst year ever as a pro, his weight ballooned and he was beat down by Ukrainian WBC Heavyweight kingpin Vitali “Dr. Ironfist” Klitschko. Then he was dismantled by former light heavyweight and cruiserweight world champion as well as current IBF International and WBO NABO Heavyweight champ Tomasz Adamek. Many boxing heads and fans had all but written off Arreola and he was aiming to recapture their confidence with his new physique and commitment to the sport. The “Nightmare” came in at 234lbs, his lowest weight since 2007.

24-year-old Aguilera was coming off a unanimous decision loss to Antonio Tarver in the “Magic Man’s” heavyweight debut. Nagy had lost four of his last five and was trying to prove he was more than just a trial horse by topping the tough Mexican-American.

The pride of Riverside rocked Aguilera in the opening round but Nagy didn’t come to lay down making it to the 2nd where they exchanged big blows. Chris dazed Nagy again early in the 3rd round but the Dominican survived for the time being by clinching the ‘skinny’ Mexican. Moments later Arreola had Aguilera against the ropes as he unloaded a barrage knockout blows staggering Nagy which lead to the intervention of referee Raul Caiz Jr. waving off the action at 1:58 of round three before the “Nightmare” rendered Aguilera dreamy.

“I don’t know how many punches I threw but I could feel them landing,” intoned Arreola after the battle. “I felt that I had a lot more zip to my punches.”

“I want a title shot and bring it [heavyweight belt] back to America where it belongs. I’m hungry for a title.” added the outspoken sound-byte humorist Chris Arreola.

With the 3rd round TKO Arreola ups his record to 31-2 with 27 knockouts as he and his new frame look to revisit territory once tread as a feared and respected heavyweight on the verge of super stardom.

Nagy Aguilera has now lost five of six dropping to 16-6, with 11 stoppages and resembles a stepping stone more than anything else.

Ward has been breezing through the “Super Six”turning world class fighters into mediocre foe’s when they share the canvas with him and after last night nothing’s changed. Whether he excites you or not, Ward’s a virtuoso performer whose climbing the pound-for-pound rankings every time he laces up. Let’s hope the winner of the Glen Johnson-Carl Froch semi-final fight has something more to offer “S.O.G.” as Bay Area’s Finest will look to grasp that big silver trophy without ever breaking a sweat.

In post fight comments with commentator Jim Grey, Ward gave his thoughts on the semi-final battle between Carl Froch and Glen Johnson, “I think that’s a 50/50 fight, you can never count Glen Johnson out, Carl Froch is a warrior.”

I agree, Johnson-Froch is a toss up and I can’t wait to see the scrap June 4, before the victor moves on to take his beating in the final at the hands of “S.O.G.”