(By Erik Killin @ Ringside) – In front of an international crowd of 10,277 fans at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, Andre “S.O.G.” Ward (21-1, 13 KOs) dismantled Mikkel “The Viking Warrior” Kessler (42-2, 31 KOs) Saturday night. The hometown hero became the only American to win in the opening stage of Showtime’s Super Six Super Middleweight Tournament.
Ward used combinations and great defense to win a stunning, relatively easy, technical decision. The bout was stopped from one of three cuts suffered by the Viking Warrior. The cut which prompted the referee to call an end to the bout in round eleven was the result of a headbutt suffered in the middle rounds.
Ward attempted to establish the jab early on in round one and successfully switched to southpaw and scored well. After the feeling out process, Kessler landed a partially blocked left hook. Ward ended the opening stanza with good movement and body shots.
Round two was a better round for Kessler. The champ backed up Ward a bit more but Ward’s defense frustrated Kessler. Ward landed a right hand to punctuate the round.
Ward came out firing the jab in round three and just slightly missed a big right hand. Ward picked up the pace and was able to land well with both hands. Kessler’s face began showing signs of Ward’s offense.
Round four was the best round early on with both men landing solid shots. Kessler landed his best punch of the fight via a left hook which Ward absorbed well. Moments later Ward landed a big right that stunned the champ.
Round five was a bit slower paced. Kessler tried to slow down Ward by going to the body more consistently.
Ward peppered Kessler with jabs in round six. Ward backed up Kessler in the final minute with nice combos and landed a big right to finish the round.
Round seven was a rougher round fought at close quarters. This didn’t help the Viking Warrior though as Ward still held the edge. Ward also bounced a beautiful left hand off the champ’s head.
In round eight, a clash of heads opened a nasty cut over the champ’s left eye. Kessler began clinching a bit and appeared to be wearing down. Ward landed some nice body shots while in the clinch.
Kessler picked up the pace in round nine attempting to salvage his title. This was a decent round for the champ.
Another headbutt occurred in round ten as the cuts worsened for Kessler. Ward landed jabs throughout the round and backed up the champ with combinations.
Needing a knockout to win, Kessler pressed forward. Ward landed some big rights mid-round as the cuts worsened. The doctor stepped in to examine the cut and called a halt to the bout at 1:42 of round eleven.
Judges Stanley Christodoulou and Steve Morrow had it 98-92, and Michael Hook scored the bout 97-93, all in favor of Ward. Boxingfanatics.com scored the bout 98-92, for Ward.
Ward is now scheduled to face Jermain Taylor in 2010 in stage two of the Super Six tournament.
The undercard wasn’t as strong as the main event.
In a four round junior middleweight bout. Tony Hirsch, (10-3-1, 5 KOs) won an uneventful unanimous decision over Jose Celaya, (31-6, 16 KOs). All three judges scored the bout 40-36.
Local Jr middleweight prospects Karim “Hard Hitta” Mayfield, (11-0-1, 7 KOs), and Francisco Santana, (11-2, 5 KOs) battled it out in a highly anticipated rematch. After two very slow rounds the two picked it up in round three. Santana landed a couple of solid left hooks that didn’t seem to faze Mayfield.
In round four, both fighters continued to trade with Mayfield seeming to get the better of the exchanges. Mayfield dropped Santana in round five after landing several big right hands. Mayfield went to the wrong corner giving Santana some extra time to recover. It was academic as Mayfield ended the fight with a flurry at 2:27 of round five.
Local prospect Stan Martyniouk, (8-0, 1 KO), won an easy four round decision against late sub Anthony Martinez, (21-33-3, 9 KOs). Martyniouk used his superior handspeed to land combos and left hooks to the body in round one.
Stan continued the offense in round two landing one-two combos.
In round three Martyniouk used the jab to control the round while doubling up on the left hook to the body. Martinez seemed ready to go early in round four but came back strong in the second half. Martyniouk attacked the body while Martinez taunted and sat on the ropes.
Final scores all read 40-36 in favor of Martyniouk.
In the opener, junior lightweight Mel Crossty, (4-0-1, 1 KO), won a four round unanimous decision over Carlos Herrera, (2-3, 1 KO). Crossty dropped Herrera in round one. The southpaw then went on to use a slick defense to dominate the remainder of the fight. Official scores read 39-36, 40-35, and 40-35.
(By Kevin Mitchell, Guardian.co.uk) - Jermain Taylor, knocked cold in the first fight of the Showtime Super Six boxing tournament in Berlin last night, is being held in hospital there for brain scans and tests, according to his promoter Lou DiBella.
The Armenian Arthur Abraham hit Taylor with a right that felled him 15 seconds from the end of the contest and, although the American left the ring unaided, he was taken to hospital later, unable to remember details of the contest.
“He has severe concussion,” DiBella told ESPN.com. “He also had some short-term memory loss and, in the interest of being completely safe he’ll be in the hospital, probably for several days.
“They believe the area of his head that was hurting him was from his head hitting the canvas. He’ll be in Berlin for another week because the doctors didn’t want him to fly, but his wife and mother are with him.”
Taylor kept asking DiBella and his wife in the dressing room later what round he had been knocked out in.
His future in the six-man tournament is in doubt, and he could be replaced by the American Allan Green, also promoted by DiBella.
