By Paul Strauss: Announcer Antonio Tarver said it best when describing Allan Green’s lack of effort. He correctly characterized it as, “Green is catching and Ward is throwing (pitching). He is doing much of nothing.”! The large Ward hometown crowd for the Super Six matchup was even surprised at how easily their hero dominated the fighter with the reputation as a fierce puncher. They saw Andre cruise through the first round with a touch of caution, but then saw him start the second with a stepped up pace, and he just took over.
The Oracle Arena crowd in Oakland, CA saw the bully get bullied. Ward muscled Green. He outworked him, and he managed to walk him into the ropes or corner, where he proceeded to work him over. Much of the time he would tie up Green’s left, and negating the vaunted left hook, and work him over with his own left. Green would lean, or be pushed back, on to the ropes and on his heels. In that position he was unable to generate any punching power. Meanwhile Ward had good balance, with his head in tight, allowing him to get off short sharp punches..
Everyone knows that Andre Ward is a student of the boxing game. It has been his life since he was very young. Allan Green also claims to be a student of the game, and on several occasions has stated he watches fight films of past greats, studing techniques, styles, and is alwasys learning. But, tonight he looked like a poor student. He failed to establish a jab and try to take advantage of his longer reach. Viewers would be hard pressed to pick out one moment when he tried to slip a punch to his left and counter. It was almost a sure bet that he would be leaning down and to his right, which provided to be a great opportunity for Andre to hit him with right hands, or let him bend into a short left hook.
Referee Raul Caiz, Jr. tried to stay out of things as much as possible, so he encouraged them to fight out of clinches, which in tonight’s fight meant there was a lot of holding and hitting, which allowed Ward to suppress Green’s efforts.
From the outside, Green repeatedly would fall for Ward’s feints and setup moves, which usually made him reset and lose any opportunity to punch effectively. A few times in the fight Green did initiate a feint, and it seemed to cause the needed reaction by Ward, but Green failed to capitalize.
By the fifth round, Ward was really starting to dominate, and a judge could almost justify 10-8 rounds, because they were so one sided. Ward’s speed was starting to take over. He was landing more and more combo’st, and Green was starting to take on a look of defeat. In the sixth round, he finally attempted to fire off a few right hands to the body of Ward, but he threw them from too far out, and got himself off balance and vulnerable to counters.
Ward’s corner told him, “He can’t counter you. Don’t give him a break”. In the eighth round, Green looked clumsy at times. He looked confused and it was obvious he didn’t know how to combat Ward’s attack. In the tenth round, Green looked even worse, and let Ward once again push him back into the ropes, and let him keep him there for much of the round. Green was simply not punching. At this point Antonio Tarver asked, “Where’s the desparation? Green needs to back up the tough talk”! Instead, it looked like Green was just trying to survive. “He is languishing (feeble or weak) on the ropes,” Al Bernstein said.
When the judges’ score cards were read by Jimmy Lennon, Jr.., there was no surprise. It was a shutout for Ward 120-108 for each of the three judges. In the post fight interview, Ward credited Green with being a tough and dangerous fighter, but had to admit to Jim Gray that he expected a tougher fight. Green on the other hand said he had over trained, because he went throught three camps, and came in at 166, which he claims weakened him. He went on to say that he wasn’t taking anything away from Ward, but of course he was by making excuses for his poor showing.
Next Ward is matched against his friend Andre Dirrell, who was ringside. Dirrell commented that if he is to beat Andre Ward, he will have to keep him from being first all of the time. Ward didn’t elaborate as to how he will fight Dirrell, explaining he doesn’t want to give much away. He said he will simply work hard and prepare for Dirrell.
Green’s next opponent will be Mikkel Kessler. Antonio Tarver’s closing comment seemed to be good advice for Allan Green. He explained Green will have to come prepared both physically and mentally, and be ready to fight regardless if he is weak. It was another way of saying there can be no excuses.