Ward Shocks Kessler

Posted by Ramon Aranda on 11.22.2009

A new WBA super middleweight champ is crowned in Oakland.

Photo by Laura De La Torre

Inside a jam packed Oracle Arena, in Oakland, Calif., a stifling hot crowd witnessed their own Andre Ward shock Mikkel Kessler for the WBA 168-pound crown via 11th round technical decision. That the fight was stopped due to a worsening cut over Kessler's eye from a headbutt, takes nothing away from the virtuoso performance by Andre Ward who took control of the fight from the moment the first bell rang until the fight was waved off.

Using his speed and craftiness, Ward (21-0, 13 KOs) peppered Kessler with jabs and straight right hands, marking up the defending champion's face early on. From the set, it appeared that the left hook would be Ward's biggest weapon as he managed to land it over and over but just went Kessler (42-2, 32 KOs) started to look for it, the right hand found a home. As the fight wore on, it was crystal clear that Ward's quick punches were tough to see and the added foot movement only frustrated Kessler even more.

By the 7th round, battered and bruised, Kessler continued to try and land a big punch but Ward's upper body movement, which may have been the most impressive part of the evening, constantly caused him to miss wildly. The 9th and 10th rounds were even worse for Kessler who continued to eat right hands and at one point seemed to be in trouble of having the bout stopped. In the 11th, Ward ripped Kessler with a picturesque over hand right that busted up the cut he had over his left eye. At that moment, Kessler was taken to the corner to have his eye examined, resulting in a stoppage. Given that the cut was deemed to have been caused by a cut earlier on, the fight would go to the scorecards. By that point however, it seemed academic as Ward had utterly dismantled the tournament favorite over 11 rounds and when the scores were read as 97-93, 98-92 and 98-92, the hometown crowd of just over 10,200 erupted in celebration as their own Andre Ward had just pulled off the upset to win the WBA title.

"He never hurt me,'' Ward said. "I was a little surprised that they stopped it when they did. I had just connected with a big right hand and would like to have seen what would have happened if the round had continued.

"I felt like it was my time. We were not intimidated by Kessler's record. Everyone felt that we got the bad draw in the first round. We never believed that. We beat the top guy.

"This win is as much for me as it is for Virgil Hunter. He has an Olympic gold medal with me and now he has a world championship."

A less than jovial Mikkel Kessler also spoke after the fight and was quick to attribute most of what happened tonight to the accidental headbutts.

"He was going in with his head all the time," said Kessler. He was punching in the clinch. I am not used to this and I got off my rhythm. I don't know why he never received a warning.

"After the butt (in the eighth round) I could not see anymore. If I fight Andre Ward again, I cannot go straight forward or stay in the middle. I have to go side-to-side.''

Promoter Dan Goossen revealed at the post-fight press conference that Ward's next fight was slated to be in March and that he would do his best to keep him in Oakland.

As for the next round of the Super Six World Boxing Classic, Goossen said that we could expect to see it commence on January 23 if all goes according to plan. With the win, Ward now moves into second place alongside Carl Froch with 2 points while Arthur Abraham stays in first with 3 points due to his knockout win. Taylor, Kessler and Dirrell all remain pointless.