Andre Ward cruised to an easy and dominating decision on Saturday, shutting Allan Green up, retaining his WBA title and showing the world why he is widely regarded as the number 1 Super Middleweight in the world.
Ward showed his versatility, scoring with jabs, left and right hooks and inside uppercuts to Green’s head and body. Green had zero response to Ward’s measured offensive output and lost every single round on all three judges scorecards.
Andre Ward will be fighting Andre Dirrell next, and interesting battle of technical abilities, while Green gets the shaft again fighting Mikkell Kessler.
Allan Green got what he wanted. When the Super 6 tournament began, Green was on the outside looking in, salivating at the chance to fight 6 of the best fighters at 168. Green owes Arthur Abraham a beer. With his brutal KO of Jermain Taylor (his second KO defeat in two fights) Abraham effectively ended his tournament, and the scrum for spot number 6 began.
With a nice looking record of 29(20)-1, Green was the leading candidate, and he cemented his place by injecting some controversy and trash talk into the tournament.
At a disadvantage after missing round 1, Green will have a chance to tie the leaders if he is able to knock out current tournament favorite and Oakland native Andre Ward.
He has a tall task ahead of him. The 2004 gold medalist, Ward sports a spotless 21(13)-0 record and is coming off a dominating victory over pre-tournament favorite Mikkel Kessler. In addition, Andre gets his second straight fight in his hometown of Oakland (not sure how that one was decided). Did I mention that hometown fighters are 5-0 in the Super 6 tourney?
Green is a skilled fighter with good pop, but Andre has a more experience, a better overall resume and a better marquee win. Expect Andre to rough Green up a bit on the inside, and outbox him from a distance on his way to a clear decision win.
I, like most of you, love highlight videos. Spending excessive amount of time on youtube? I’ve been there. A recent discovery I have made is the boxing highlight guru Gorilla Productions. Gorilla has some of the best videos out there. Whether they are post fight videos, promo vids, or career appreciation videos, this dude is killing it on youtube with his smooth editing skills and excellent music selection.
Though there is not much to look forward to this summer, I decided we could look back…to the year that was 2009.
I wish I had more to talk about today. Two young up and comers taking on their first big challenge, perhaps. Or two veterans looking to squash an old beef in the ring. Or maybe an event that hasn’t taken place in 34 years.
Alas, I do not. After a hot spring, the summer boxing season will slow down a bit, reflecting the lazy nature of a Saturday afternoon (HBO’s next scheduled fight is on July 17th). Its ok. More time to hit up the beach.
There is something I can talk about. Undefeated liliputian (5’0″, 108 pounds) Ivan Calderon 33(6)-0 will fight Jesus Irbe for his WBO light flyweight title. Calderon will win by UD. He nearly always does. Sorry I am not more excited about this one…
ps. This is one of those weekends it’s ok to forget about boxing and watch the World Cup.
“And no, I’m not referring to the short-lived drama that was on ABC a few years back (which, by the way, I really enjoyed before it got canceled) but the list of nine fighters that Lou DiBella submitted to HBO that he says Sergio Martinez would face immediately. The names on that last are: Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, Shane Mosley, Paul Williams, Kermit Cintron, Vanes Martirosyan, Alfredo Angulo, Felix Sturm and Sergio Mora.
Now, if they can only get him a date on the network, they can work from there.”
Now this is the type of thing you love to see from a champion. Offering all comers to challenge his title, and taking a proactive stance on his next fight.
Here is an unofficial video (hopefully it does not get taken down). It is biased as hell in favor of Foreman (no way is he getting an immediate rematch), but its better than anything else that is out there.
Miguel needed this one. Over the course of 9 rounds, Miguel Cotto broke Yuri Foreman down by dominating the exchanges and landing the more telling blows. Foreman’s key weapon, his mobility, was stripped from him in Round 7 where he slipped to the canvas when his knee appeared to give way, leaving him hobbling around the ring. Foreman showed true heart, continuing to fight and battle though overmatched.
Another interesting turn took place in round 8, where Arthur Mercante Jr. continued the fight after Foreman’s corner threw in the towel. Mercante was quoted after the fight “”The towel came in the heat of the battle. They had a good exchange going. I felt it wasn’t necessary to stop it. I didn’t know where it (the towel) came from. There was no need to stop the fight. They were in the middle of a great fight. That’s what the fans came to see. I felt I did the right thing to let it continue.”
I loved Mercante’s initiative, giving Foreman his due and allowing him to continue fighting. Mercante referee’d an excellent fight all night, there was very little clinching, and the fighters obeyed and respected his orders in the ring.
In the middle of the 9th round, Cotto landed a sick left hook do the body that hurt and dropped Foreman (though having a bum knee didn’t help his situation) and Mercante had seen enough.
It’s been 34 years since boxers stepped into the squared circle in Yankee Stadium. It took a brand new stadium, a Puerto Rican with a heavy New York fan-base (there is a solid Puerto Rican population in NY, and Cotto holds many of his fights in Madison Square Garden), and, of course, a Belarusian transported to Israel and then New York who is studying to become a rabbi. Who didn’t see that one coming?
Tonight’s matchup is an attractive one. Yuri Foreman, a young, skilled junior middleweight coming off his first title victory and an Miguel Cotto, an older established champion moving up in weight for the first time. The questions that will be answered tonight are: “how good is Yuri Foreman? and how much does Miguel Cotto have in the tank?”
Foreman is an interesting backstory, one that several articles could be written about. But no time for that here, we have a fight to catch. Foreman is a boxer, plain and simple. He relies on his good speed, defense and superb footwork. He fights smart, doesn’t take chances and frustrates his opponents. Foreman impressed me against Daniel Santos, and though his lack of power was on display, he dominated the former champion who had no answer for Foreman’s skills.
Miguel Cotto has had two devastating losses. A somewhat controversial TKO loss to Antonio Margarito (were his hands plastered or not?) and a dominating TKO loss against Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao. In both of these fights he was brutally cut, a cause of much talk going into tonight’s fight. Will his scar tissues above his eyes hold up, or will it get torn open like it has in 3 of his past 4 fights?
One fact that is a bit overshadowed in the pre-fight buildup is that this is BY FAR the biggest step up in Yuri Foreman’s career. He has never headlined a bout, has been in one championship fight, has never had pressure on him the way he does tonight. How will he handle it?
Miguel Cotto’s defeats seem to mar his victories. Cotto has defeated top rated fighters and is 14-2 in championship fights. He has been here before. His career is on the line. Cotto has defeated Joshua Clottey, Shane Mosley, Zab Judah, Carlos Quintana and Malignaggi. Quite a pedigree.
Here is the reality: though Yuri Foreman is good, Miguel Cotto is better. Assuming he does not get seriously cut, I expect Miguel to pressure Foreman, and systematically break down him down with body shots and stop him in the 10th round (don’t be surprised to see a corner stoppage).
Boxaholic 
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