Inside The Ropes 11.23.09: A Star is Born in Oakland

Posted by Ramon Aranda on 11.23.2009

With a lopsided win over Mikkel Kessler on Saturday night, Andre Ward becomes the man to beat in the Super Six World Boxing Classic. Plus, a look back at the first round of the tournament and what to expect out of round 2.

Photos by Laura De La Torre

Only three rounds into his WBA super middleweight title clash with Mikkel Kessler, Andre Ward made it abundantly clear that not only did he belong, but that he may end up proving too skilled for the Danish champion. When the fight was over and a new champion was crowned, Ward completely flipped the tournament on its back as he quickly became a new favorite while leaving Kessler bruised, battered and deflated. It was no secret going in that Ward possessed the speed and style to give Kessler issues but it was the manner in which he dissected him that impressed me the most. His defense must also be given credit as the upper body movement caused Kessler to miss badly more often that not. A close win would've been enough to put Ward on the map but the dominant performance has given him worldwide credibility. And really that's what this tournament is all about – it is a global affair, after all.

Say what you want about the headbutts that occurred during the fight, which was a point of contention by Kessler's team but Ward was outclassing Kessler before any substantial clash of heads occurred. It's part of the game, they weren't intentional and as Ward pointed out after the fight, "they were hurting me too, but I just didn't get cut."

This win now puts Ward right at the forefront of the 168-pound division and along with Arthur Abraham who impressed everyone with his knockout win over Jermain Taylor. While Taylor had some solid credentials coming in however, it was Kessler who was the tournament favorite. That Ward managed to dominate him the way he did has to make him the man to beat. The cherry on top however, is that Ward managed to put the American side on the board as Taylor and Dirrell both came out on the short end of the sticks. As the lone U.S.-born winner of the first round, 'S.O.G.' Ward has almost become the face of the Americans and although it will be a heavy burden to carry, it's one he'll do so with open arms.

If you were looking for a breakout star in the tournament, Arthur Abraham came out swinging, but Andre Ward has now put himself on the map and a new star has been born. Oakland should be proud.

The First Round

Now that the first round of the Super Six has wrapped up, what can we take away from it? Well for one, Arthur Abraham is a beast and he put everyone on notice with his brutal 12th round KO of Jermain Taylor last month. To say he's one of the favorites to make it to the finals is an understatement and he surely has a psychological edge over most of the fighters. As I already mentioned, Andre Ward is also now at the top of that heap and his speed will be very difficult to deal with throughout this tournament as only Andre Dirrell comes close in that department. They'll lock horns in the 3rd round so we'll get to see just how they match up. So what about the rest of the crew? Well speaking of Dirrell, despite the decision loss to Carl Froch, he made a pretty good account of himself, particularly in the rounds where he was aggressive and hard to find. Some rounds were difficult to score and it was sloppy at times but I think he did enough to win. That being said, he showed he has the skills to hang in this tournament and he'll need to use all of them to be competitive with Arthur Abraham in the upcoming round. He's much more mobile that Taylor and that could give Abraham some troubles unless he manages to tag him early. As for Jermain Taylor, he'll now have to deal with Andre Ward. Immediately after the fight with Abraham, most felt that Ward would be a tough battle but that he wouldn't be strong enough to worry about another possible knockout. Though Ward doesn't have the one-punch KO power of an Abraham, his speed makes his punches hard to see. As the old saying goes, "the punches that hurt the most are the ones you don't see coming" and that could spell trouble for JT. They're both solid boxers though so it should be fun to watch.

He may have just lost his WBA title to Ward but Mikkel Kessler will go straight into another title shot when he faces Carl Froch in the first European vs. European of the tournament. Froch is probably the least technical fighter of the group but does possess plenty of power. Kessler as we know carries quite a wallop and Froch should be easier to find than Ward. Two power punchers makes for an exciting fight and I fully expect Kessler to be able to box a little better while Froch won't have to deal with another elusive fighter. This may be the slugfest of the 2nd round so keep an eye out for that one. Froch will have to travel to Denmark however for this fight so Kessler will have the crowd behind him this time around.

As it stands, Abraham leads the pack with 3 points while Ward and Froch are right behind with 2 points. Dirrell and Taylor remain pointless so they'll need a win badly if they want to stay in the mix. We were told on Saturday that the next round is set to begin on January 23 but we don't know who will be fighting. It likely won't be Ward vs. Taylor according to Dan Goossen however as he stated that the fight will most likely occur in March – he's hoping to bring it back to Oakland, Calif.

It was a successful opening round in my opinion for the Super Six World Boxing Classic and the next round can't come soon enough. There were a few revelations and some surprises but there's still two more rounds to go and anything can happen. Either way, kudos to Showtime for putting this on!

Random Thoughts

- Andre Dirrell was present on Saturday in Oakland and was one of the first to congratulate Andre Ward for his excellent win over Kessler. I'm sure he'll be rooting for his former Olympic teammate to beat Taylor as well. They're good friends but most importantly, Dirrell is certainly hoping he'll get a crack at that WBA title.

- Wilfried Sauerland was full of sour grapes during the post-fight press conference blaming Ward for headbutting and elbowing and who knows what else. It was quite the proclamation that was met by a chorus of boos. On the other hand, Kalle Sauerland spoke briefly afterward and simply gave credit to Ward for the win while showing confidence that Kessler isn't going anywhere. A big thumbs up to Kalle for being level headed and modest. He's a class act all the way.

- Spoke to Antonio Tarver at the weigh-in this past Friday and although he seemed non-committal about his future inside the ring, he sounded quite happy about his new duties behind the mic at Showtime. He seems to be doing a pretty good job and sounds like a natural. I wouldn't mind if that became his next full-time gig.

- Dan Goossen predicted that Mikkel Kessler will knock out Carl Froch. I can see that happening too.