Andre Ward advanced to the semifinals of the Super Six boxing tournament by beating Allan Green by unanimous decision on Saturday.
Ward (22-0, 13 knockouts) completely controlled his first defense of the WBA super middleweight title and advanced to the final four of the modified round-robin tournament with one round to go. He won all 12 rounds from the three judges in front of his hometown crowd in Oakland.
Green (29-2) lost in his first fight since replacing the injured Jermain Taylor in the tournament. He still can advance to the semi-finals by winning in the third round against Mikkel Kessler.
Ward won the title when he beat Kessler in the first round of the tournament in November last year.
The Super Six was designed by US cable network Showtime to feature six of the best super middleweights in the world, with each guaranteed three fights and earning points based on their outcome.
The four participants with the most points advance to seeded semi-finals, with a championship bout scheduled for next year.
After a feeling out process in the first round, Ward took over with a few strong left hands.
Ward backed Green into the ropes early in the third round. That is where the fighters spent much of the rest of the fight, with Green backed into the ropes and Ward delivering punches from close range.
Green was upset that he wasn’t included in the original field of the tournament and questioned Ward for postponing the fight earlier this spring because of a right knee injury, but he couldn’t back up his bold prefight talk once he got into the ring.
He connected on few punches and at times appeared to be just holding onto Ward to stand up.
Green lasted all 12 rounds, but needing a knockout to win late, he had little left. The fight ended with Ward connecting again near the ropes.
Ward’s final fight in the round-robin stage of the tournament will come against Andre Dirrell. Ward is assured of a spot in next year’s semi-finals, but can clinch the top seed with a win.
■RAHMAN VS MILLER
AP, NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK
Two-time former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman continued his comeback by scoring a fourth-round technical knockout over fellow-American Shannon Miller on Saturday.
The fight was stopped by referee Charlie Fitch — and at the request of Miller’s corner — 1:37 into the fourth round after Rahman (47-7-2) sent Miller (16-5-0) to the mat for the fourth time in a main-event fight that was scheduled to go 10 rounds.
The fight was Rahman’s second since a seven-round TKO loss to Wladimir Klitschko in December 2008.
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