By Johnathon Fell: Andre Ward 27 (14) – 0 is finally set to make his return to the ring vs. British challenger Paul Smith Jnr 35 (20) – 5 in his backyard, Oakland, California. This bout marks a return for Ward following an 18-month period of inactivity through injury, promotional complications and difficulty in finding an opponent.
This return for Ward ticks many boxes, a former World Title challenger, a fighter who brings a broadcaster and a substantial fan base and most importantly, a fighter who he will feel he can look good against and control for 12 rounds, if he desires.
Ward must still be considered as one of the P4P elite, despite the inactivity, his cruise through the Super 6 tournament in 2011 – 2012 still highlights a gulf between him and the rest of the 168lb challengers. Couple that with a great knockout win against Chad Dawson, Ward has shown class and spite in many performances.
From a Paul Smith Jnr perspective, it is a tough one. Firstly, this has to be seen as a mismatch. Despite Ward’s layoff and the fact that Smith has had 2 recent World Title tilts against WBO strap holder Artur Abraham, there is a gulf in class, skills and styles. Smith is a limited fighter and realistically is no longer the best super-middleweight in Britain let alone deserved of another World Title shot.
You have to look at Carl Froch, who wouldn’t fight Ward in London let alone Oakland. Froch knows that his only chance of avenging his defeat to Ward would be to get every advantage possible by hosting the fight in his home town of Nottingham, England. Couple that with Ward not being a PPV fighter with not massive commercial value, Froch is probably wise to sidestep this fight. Ward vs. Smith will play out similarly to Ward vs. Froch. Smith will attempt to get inside but is not quick enough to have a telling impact on a fighter with the skills of Ward who will slip, dodge and counter for 12 rounds, if he chooses.
Smith, following his 2 World Title shots clearly isn’t ready to step back down to domestic level, despite the division being very healthy with the likes of DeGale & Groves, both of who have beaten Smith comfortably as well as his brother Callum Smith and Rocky Fielding who are proving promising prospects. I personally think Smith Jnr vs. Fielding is one of the best domestic matchups that we will probably never see.
That said, it is understandable why this is the case. Both Smith and promotional stable Matchroom Sport deserve huge credit for this fight. Smith plies his trade in a tough, dangerous sport and I unlike some boxing fans see the bigger picture, that’s him wanting to test himself at the top level and someone willing to fight anyone to provide for himself and his family and set himself up for his life after boxing. It is to be commended as an intelligent, calculated risk for Smith.
I for one will be tuning in to this fight as a fan of both Ward and Smith Jnr for different reasons and will be intrigued to see how Ward copes on his return following an 18 month layoff as well as to see how Smith Jnr adjusts his style to cope with Ward who presents a very different challenge to that of Artur Abraham who he fought on his 2 previous outings at World Title challenger level. I can’t however see past a Ward victory here, look for him to get some rounds under his belt but see him wearing down an aging Smith who has been in many tough fights and don’t see him being able to resist Ward for the 12 as he did with Abraham.
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