Bt Jared Lopez
Oakland, California was an excellent host to what was one of the biggest fights of the year. From the press conference to the weigh-in, the electricity carried through up till the post fight conference. Oracle Arena was really loud on September 8th as they cheered for their hometown hero; undefeated super middleweight Andre ward. Ward put on a great, exciting show from the first round controlling the fight landing heavy left and right hooks, and even out jabbing the taller, longer Chad Dawson .
With a balanced attack to the head and body, Ward was able to put on a masterpiece that had other boxing stars on their feet like Robert Guerrero, Nonito Donaire, Adrien Broner, and Tavoris Cloud. Other sport celebrities like baseball legend Pete Rose, basketball players Metta World Piece, and Monte Ellis were in attendance to see Ward’s mastery.
Ward made the fight his fight, out landed, out jabbed and landed uppercuts whenever the two were in a clinch. Ward went on to knock down Chad Dawson three times en route to his 10th round TKO as Dawson told referee Steve Smoger that he wanted no more. With this victory, not only has Ward cemented himself as still the best super middleweight in the world but might stake his claim as the best boxer in the world.
Dawson on the other hand, just looked frustrated from round one, not being able to get off and being attacked from different angles with speed and power. Ward was simply just too quick and always got off first. Even thought the weight issued was brought up by Chad, he accepted his defeat gracefully and said that Andre Ward was the best. He also said that he would go back to light heavy where he still holds the WBC title and Ring Magazine title. Chad wasn’t able to attend the post fight press conference because he was taken to the hospital for precautionary measures.
For Ward, perhaps a super star was born, although it may seem like he is running out of options at 168. Maybe a fight with the winner of Chavez-Martinez might be on tap? Maybe a move to 175? It’s clear now that no one at 168 is coming close to beating him.
The undercard feature one of Tijuana’s boxing best, Antonio Demarco; who was defending his WBC light weight belt against the tough John Molina Jr. Everybody expected this fight to be a war and to end by knockout but no one expected to see one of the fastest TKO’s of the year. Both fighters were quoted saying before the fight they would died in the ring to come out the victor.
The mood was set for war. Even thought It did not last long (44 seconds to be exact) was all Antonio Demarco needed to demolish and successfully defend his title opening the door for big paydays with a possible fights against Adrien Broner, who some speculated was in Oakland for the fight to check out his future opponent. Not to mention Gary Shaw made it clear that they were ready to start negotiations and pretty much were ready to sign the fight just as long as the money was reasonable.
To make Antonio’s night sweeter , his wife announce they were expecting making the champion fall into tears of joy. While he cried tears of joy, Demarco was surprised it ended quickly. “To be honest I am surprised. I knew I would win but not this fast, I got ready for war. I felt strong, fast, and ready for 12 hard rounds if it went that route but my hard work pay off. I was able to land a hard punch that hurt him so I did what I do and put him away,” explained Demarco.
He has no issues who he fights next as long as it’s a fight that stakes claim to the top of the division. “I’ll fight whoever they put in front of me whether it’s the rematch with Jorge Linares or Adrien Broner; I am ready and I want the big names because I want to prove I am the best in my division. But then again I fight who ever my promoter tells me to fight, but I am sure it will be one of the best.”
Because it was a short night for Demarco, a November 3rd fight on HBO in Atlantic City would be very feasible with Adrien Broner. Let’s hope this happens as Broner makes his debut in the lightweight division. I could not see a better fight for either at 135 in terms of dollars and credibility.
