Andre Ward knocked down Chad Dawson three times before winning on a technical knockout in the 10th round to defend his WBC-WBA super middleweight titles on Saturday to the delight of his hometown crowd.
Ward (26-0, 14 KOs) knocked down Dawson (31-2, 17 KOs) late in the third round and early in the fourth to take control of the fight and finished him off with a combination at 2 minutes, 45 seconds of the 10th.
Dawson, the WBC light heavyweight champion, moved down a weight class from 175 pounds (79.4kg) to 168 to take on Ward. Dawson was also willing to fight in Ward’s hometown of Oakland, where an enthusiastic crowd had previously cheered Ward on to four wins.
Photo: Reuters
However, Dawson proved no match for Ward, who punished the challenger repeatedly with his strong left hand.
Ward, the reigning fighter of the year by the Boxing Writers Association of America, ran through a strong field in the Super Six super middleweight tournament, capping it with a decision over Carl Froch in December last year that made him the undisputed champion of the weight class.
Ward also is the last American to win an Olympic gold medal, doing it in Athens in 2004, and is widely considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport. He showed why against Dawson.
However, this may have been one of his most impressive bouts.
While both fighters are supremely talented and have accomplished careers, they are not known for knockouts or showy fights. Dawson’s last knockout came in 2007, while Ward had not had one since beating Shelby Pudwill in 2009.
The fight started that way, with both fighters feeling each other out rather than punching in the first round. Dawson got a cut over his right eye in the second round and then things really heated up in the third, with both fighters opening up.
In the final minute of the round, Ward floored Dawson with a hard left hand. Dawson staggered around for the finish of the round and then got knocked down again by a left hook early in the fourth to the delight of the fans, who were pleading for a knockout.
Ward was in control the rest of the way, landing 155 power punches to just 29 for Dawson, according to Compubox. He finished Dawson off with a vicious combination in the 10th round.
Dawson rebounded from his only career loss in 2010 to Jean Pascal to beat Bernard Hopkins in a unanimous decision in April to become champion once again. After winning that, he called for a bout with Ward and was willing to go on the road and down in weight to get that chance. It did not pay off.
In the co-feature earlier in the night, WBC lightweight titleholder Antonio DeMarco (28-2-1, 21 KOs) of Mexico beat John Molina Jr (24-2, 19 KOs) by technical knockout in the first round.
Among the celebrities on hand for the fight were career hit king Pete Rose, Los Angeles Dodgers star Matt Kemp, Lakers forward Metta World Peace and boxer Shane Mosley.
Klitschko vs Charr
AP, MOSCOW
Vitali Klitschko stopped Manuel Charr of Germany in the fourth round to retain his WBC world heavyweight title on Saturday night.
The 41-year-old Klitschko won by a technical knockout when the bout was stopped by the doctor with 56 seconds left in the round because of Charr’s bleeding eyebrow.
It was Klitschko’s ninth consecutive successful defense of the title since beating Samuel Peter in his comeback to the ring in 2008. The Ukrainian has improved to 45-2 with 41 KOs.
The 27-year-old Charr, who was born in Beirut, suffered his first defeat and dropped to 21-1 with 11 KOs.
Klitschko dominated from the beginning and left little doubt about the final outcome.
Charr desperately protested the doctor’s decision to stop the fight, but was finally calmed down by his assistants.
“I’m a bit disappointed because I wanted to win by a real knockout, not a technical one,” Klitschko said after the bout. “I was ready to keep on fighting and [Manuel] Charr also wanted, but it was the doctor’s decision and it was his responsibility.”
Klitschko praised Charr, saying that he was “a real fighter with a big heart and one day he would become a champion.”
Charr said that he “came to Moscow to become a champion.”
“Everyone who knows me knows that I never give up,” Charr told reporters. “Vitaly is a great champion, but he didn’t win today — it was the doctor who won the bout. It was not our corner’s decision.”
Charr asked for a grudge match, but Klitschko said that the German had already had his chance.
“I understand your big desire to face Klitschko again, but you know that so many boxers would like to do it and if we meet so often, we won’t give a chance for the others,” he said.
Charr spent most of the first round covering up and offering little offense, but managed several punches in the end.
He was mostly on defense in the second round, but Klitschko finally knocked him down. Charr got up and stood in the corner, but when the referee counted to three, the bell marked the end of the round.
“I provoked him [Charr] to be more aggressive and he began to make more mistakes,” Klitschko said. “This was my tactic.”
Midway through the third round, Klitschko managed a decisive hook into Charr’s face.
Klitschko, who heads an opposition political party called Udar (“Strike”) in Ukraine, said he would have some rest and then announce his future plans.
“I’m facing major tasks and not only in sports,” he said. “I’ll fly to Kiev in the morning and will be fully occupied with preparations for the parliamentary elections [next month] as the leader of the party. I’m 41 and I’m still boxing, but one cannot trick the nature — I will have to hang my gloves on a nail soon.”
Adamek vs Walker
AP, NEWARK, New Jersey
Polish-born Tomasz Adamek recovered from a second-round knockdown to defeat Travis Walker on Saturday.
With the five-round win, Adamek, 35, improved to 47-2 with 28 knockouts.
Walker (39-8-1, 31 knockouts) sent Adamek to the ground early, but Adamek recovered in time to turn the tables. By the end of the second round, Walker had been knocked down himself.
“I know and hear that Travis wants to knock me out,” Adamek said at the prefight press conference, “and this would be the only way he could beat me. Wishing and actually doing are two separate things.”
In the end, Walker, 33, registered a knockdown, but not a knockout, and it just was not enough.
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