By Jason Kim: Allan Green (29-1, 20 KO’s) has shown some nifty boxing skills in some of his fights, but mostly he’s a guy that has gotten over with his fast hands and big punching power. He’s a good boxer and moves well, but he’s not quite in the class of other Super Six tournament fighters Mikkel Kessler, Andre Ward and Andre Dirrell in terms of boxing ability. It may not matter if Green go out and destroy Ward next month on June 19th at the Oracle Arena, in Oakland, California.
Green certainly has the power to stop Ward and any of the Super Six tournament contestants if he comes out swinging hard with his fast hands blazing. He’s got true one punch power and in some ways he’s even more dangerous than Arthur Abraham, who many boxing fans feel is the best puncher in the Super Six tourney. The thing with Green is he’s going to have to let his hands go more and not get frozen up by the moment.
He’s going to be fighting in Ward’s home city, so the crowd is naturally going to be cheering everything that Ward does and booing Green. He has to forget about that and try to really go after Ward. He can’t around and let Ward dictate the fight terms because he could find himself getting a boxing lesson if he doesn’t try to take the fight to Ward. Green moves well, but he’s not as smooth on his feet as Ward. He’s more of a fighter that likes to move slowly, and does best against fighters that are there to be hit.
Ward won’t make it easy for him and will be looking to get in quickly, land some hard combinations and then move away. Ward will stay at close range if he discovers that Green can’t fight on the inside like Ward did with his last Super Six tournament opponent Kessler. I suspect that Green will tough at close range, especially with his uppercuts. Ward probably won’t want to stay near him for too long once he gets hit with one of Green’s big shots in close.
Green needs to look for his spots and not throw something that he’s not absolutely sure will land, because Ward is an excellent counter puncher and he likes to make his opponents miss and then counter them. Green would be better off to throw as many sustained combinations as he can because Ward shuts down when his opponents throw combinations. He’s looking to cover up, block or duck shots in order not to get hit. Green needs to keep advancing on Ward and forcing him to stay on the defensive mode longer and longer.
Green could build up a lead this way and throw Ward off his game and make him fight with too much an urgency. Ward likes to set the pace and Green could upset his game plan if he really takes the fight to him. I frankly don’t see it happening. I think Green won’t throw enough punches and will end up loading up on the few shots he does throw, looking to score a knockout. Instead of volume punching, Green will be throwing one punch at a time and hoping he can take Ward out. That probably isn’t going to happen, especially with Green not throwing a lot of punches.
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