OAKLAND – Andre “SOG” Ward retained his WBC/WBA Super Middleweight world titles, delivering a dominating performance in a TKO victory over “Bad” Chad Dawson in front of an energetic and loudly supportive hometown Oakland crowd on Saturday night.
“I carried the weight in the ring of being champion,” Ward said. “Dawson was a dangerous opponent. I took a risk by fighting the bigger man.”
The raucous fan base inside Oracle Arena may have spent more time on their feet than Dawson did.
Ward, who sent Dawson to the canvas in the third and fourth rounds with a pair of well-placed left hooks, shook his opponent with a lead left in the 10th. Dawson’s legs wobbled and Ward finished him off with a right, left combo that put Dawson to his knee. Referee Steve Smoger stopped the bout a 2:45 of the 10th.
At the time of the stoppage, judges David Mendoza had the fight 89-80 , Marshall Walker had it 90-79 (Ward) and Julie Lederman scored it 89-80 all for Ward.
“I was surprised he wasn’t as fast as he looked on tape. I saw everything coming from the start,” Ward said. “It might of looked easy but Chad Dawson is a monster.”
Ward (26-0) successfully defended his WBA title for the fourth time and the WBA for the first.
Dawson moved down from 175 pounds to take the fight. Both boxers weighed in at the assigned weight of 168. Dawson entered the ring at 185 and Ward at 176.
“I did everything I had to do in camp to prepare for this fight,” Dawson said. “He was a lot faster than I thought he was. And he’s strong too. I couldn’t get my shots off tonight. The weight was OK, but I’m going to go back up to 175.”
Ward was clearly the better fighter on Saturday. The 2004 Olympic gold medalist was never in danger against the longer and bigger Dawson. The third round knockdown came courtesy of a short, inside left hook to the chin of Dawson.
Ward again dropped Dawson as the fourth round commenced. He nearly sent him down again in the ninth with two straight right hands.
“Finishing guys is the last piece of the puzzle. And we are on our way to doing that,” Ward said.
