After 18 months away super-middleweight Andre Ward (27-0, 14 KO’s) will finally return to his hometown of Oakland, California this Saturday to showcase his exquisite talents against former two-time world title challenger Paul Smith Jr. (35-5, 20 KO’s).
On his last visit to Oakland, Ward slowly ground down Chad Dawson en route to a tenth-round TKO. Dawson was the reigning WBC light-heavyweight champion at the time and very highly regarded, but looked brittle seven pounds south of his usual division.
Ward was unable to capitalise on that impressive win and his momentum stalled, first due to a niggling serious shoulder injury that required surgery, followed by an ambiguous contractual dispute with his former promoter.
He managed to defeat Edwin Rodriguez via unanimous decision in December 2013 but has been conspicuously absent until now.
Thankfully for Ward, his promotional difficulties have now ended and a few months ago he signed with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports to signal reinvigoration in this stuttering phase of an overall stellar pro campaign.
Speaking to BBC.co.uk Ward says that his loyal fans were steadfast during his time away from active competition and that his reappearance in his hometown is a gesture of thanks to those who showed their support.
“Some people know what the absence was about. Some people don’t know. I was tied up in litigation with my former promoter. It was a stance I had to take,” he said.
“The fans were phenomenal. I would see them in the street and talk to them on social media and they kept saying, ‘we want you back and we miss you.'”
“That’s why we brought this fight back to Oakland, as a thank you to the fans for your patience, diligence and for supporting me as long as they have.”
His opponent on the night has been drafted in as a known yet beatable opponent. Smith travelled to Germany in his last two outing for two unsuccessful but commendable attempts at dethroning WBO World super-middleweight champion Arthur Abraham.
In Oakland on June 20th, he will be in against the a completely different calibre of fighter though. Abraham comes forward with a high guard and is happy to trade punches, counting on his durability and fitness to outwork and outlast his opponents. He did so on both occasions against Smith, who had neither the physicality or nous to think his way to victory.
Ward operates on an entirely different level, a higher plain; controlling distance with a fencing jab, feinting, mixing up the power in his punches, engaging only when he wants and with a rough inside game to top it all off.
He is a serious guy, and as a side note, is the only man to definitively defeat four-time former world champion Carl Froch. This is a fight between two men on two very different levels.
The most interesting aspect of this fight is what kind of effect, if any, these last few years of inactivity have had on Ward. He says he has not missed a step, and while he acknowledges Smith will not lie down for him, he is confident in his abilities to win this fight.
“Smith’s coming to win. I’ve prepared like I’m supposed to prepare. We want to put on a tremendous performance and let people know that Andre Ward is back and doing it in Oakland.”
And if Ward continues ‘doing it’ as he did before his forced vacation there can be few logical arguments for a Smith victory here. He is outmatched in almost every department and has acknowledged as much himself.
Smith should be given heaps of credit for taking on one of the elite operators the sport has produced over the last six or seven years. His chances may be slim but slim is better than none, which is what his chances would have been if he didn’t step up to prove his worth not only as a boxer, but also as a man.
Respect should be forthcoming, alongside the massive payday.
