Ward Primed for
Kessler after taking out Pudwill
September 13, 2009
Temecula, CA (September
13, 2009) – In a tune-up for his Super Six World Boxing Classic
confrontation with WBA Super Middleweight Champion Mikkel Kessler, NABF
and WBO NABO Super Middleweight titleholder Andre “S.O.G.” Ward (20-0,
13 KO), Oakland, CA looked primed and ready after dismantling Shelby
Pudwill (22-4-1, 9 KO), Mandan, ND in a non-title bout at the Pechanga
Resort & Casino in Temecula, CA. The bout was a co-main event telecast
on “ShoBox: The New Generation” on SHOWTIME.
Ward, who thoroughly
outboxed Pudwill in the first two rounds, dropped him with a left hook
in the third round, which opened a nasty cut under Pudwill’s left eye.
Smelling blood, Ward went for the kill and had his opponent in serious
trouble. Knowing he could do serious damage, Ward signaled referee Pat
Russell several times to put a halt to the shellacking and he mercifully
did at 2:16 of the third round.
The key to the fight
was “just staying focused,” Ward, America’s last Olympic gold medal
winner, simplified. “The speed and the timing and I just had to stay
focused. This kind of fight had a lot of build up to a bigger fight and
I had to focus on this fight.
“I think he was done,”
Ward continued when explaining why he kept calling for the stoppage.
“I’m a fighter and I can feel when a fighter’s strength leaves him and
after he got up from that knockdown it was pretty much over. He was in
serious trouble so why not stop the fight?”
As for his upcoming
fight with Kessler in his own home town, Ward succinctly said, “I’m
ready”!
Promoter Dan Goossen,
breathing a deep sigh of relief, said: “I hate tune-up fights. I’m
just happy that he (Ward) got through it for three rounds to get ready
for November 21st. That’s what it was all about. So Kessler and Ward
both came out successful. That will take us over to November 21st at
Oracle Arena.
In a Special Attraction heavyweight contest, an
obviously trimmer James “Lights Out” Toney (72-6-3, 44 KO) of Calabasas,
CA, made a big statement by stopping Matthew Greer (12-6, 11 KO), of St.
Louis, MO at 2:33 of the second round. The 41-year old former IBF
Middleweight, Super Middleweight and Cruiserweight Champion came in at
his lightest weight since stopping Evander Holyfield in his debut as a
heavyweight six years ago and dropped Greer with a left to the body
midway in the first round. Toney pounded away to the head and body with
combinations forcing Greer’s corner to stop the fight.
“I felt great at the lower weight,” Toney said.
“When I was heavier I felt like I was losing my speed and stamina. Even
when he hit me I wasn’t hurt. Now I’m 41 years old, 21 really, and I’m
a heavyweight fighting like a middleweight. If I can get one of the
Klitschko sisters to fight me next fight, I’ll come in lighter than I
did for Holyfield, maybe 211 or 210.”
“James proved that he’s willing to work for one
more shot and that’s what we’re going to try and get him,” Goossen
offered.
In the opening bout of the six-fight card promoted
by Goossen-Tutor Promotions, junior featherweight Rico Ramos (12-0, 8
KO), of Pico Rivera, CA knocked out Mexico’s Victor Martinez (15-6, 11
KO) at 1:46 of the third round. In a battle of unbeaten junior
welterweights, Mike Dallas, Jr. (10-0-1, 2 KOs), of Bakersfield, CA
earned a unanimous decision over New York City’s Vincent Arroyo (9-1, 6
KO). Once-beaten Francisco Santana (11-1, 5 KO), from Santa Barbara, CA
got the nod by split decision over Tony Hirsch (9-3-1, 5 KO), of
Oakland, CA in a hotly-contested six-round junior middleweight bout.
Finally, Terrel “Tiger” Williams (2-0, 2 KO), of Los Angeles, CA
remained unbeaten in his young career with an impressive stoppage of
Joshua Zurfluh (1-7-1), of Long Beach, CA just five seconds before the
end of the second round.
Published on WBAN. Source/PR - Goossen Photos/Courtesy-Goossen
