Andre Ward stopped Rubin Williams late in the seventh round of their super middleweight bout on Thursday, keeping the Olympic gold medalist unbeaten as a professional.
Ward (15-0, 10 KOs), who is the only American champion from the last two Olympics, had control from the opening round in his first fight since stopping Roger Cantrell last November.
He did it mostly with one arm, hitting the sluggish, overweight Williams with jabs and straight left hands almost at will. But Ward didn't answer the questions about his killer instinct, failing to put away his overmatched opponent despite nearly seven rounds of target practice.
A cut over Williams' left eye eventually did what Ward couldn't. The cut opened in the second round, and the injury grew until the referee stopped the bout with 5 seconds left in the seventh round of Ward's fifth straight KO victory.
"I had to bring my best game in order to beat him," Ward said.
Williams (29-4-1), a veteran best known for losing to Jeff Lacy in a March 2005 title shot, couldn't make the 76kg weight limit, but the fight went on anyway. Williams is winless in his last three fights, yet he's still the best opponent Ward has ever faced -- but Ward plans to change that soon.
"I'm ready for my time to shine, but I've got to be realistic," Ward said. "Hopefully I'll bring a breath of fresh air to the sport of boxing."
Though a generation of past gold medalists got relatively quick title shots, Ward's professional career has proceeded deliberately in the three-and-a-half years since he trounced the light heavyweight division in Athens. His management has carefully chosen his matchups and Ward also missed seven months in 2006 with a thumb injury.
His Bay Area fans made up most of the crowd of 4,588 at HP Pavilion for Ward's fourth bout in San Jose, but the fight didn't get underway until 10:40pm Pacific time because of a lengthy television broadcast beforehand.
"I gotta work tomorrow!" a fan shouted from the stands during a dull period of the seventh round.
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