By Jason Kim: A lot of boxing fans are pratically gushing over the one-sided 12 round decision win by WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward (22-0, 13 KO’s) over Allan Green (29-2, 20 KO’s) in the Super Six tournament on June 19th. I’ve lost track of the number of fans that have been comparing the 26-year-old Ward with Bernard Hopkins and saying how technically brilliant Ward is.
I saw some skills, yeah, but I also a lot of mugging in there with Green and I was frankly put off by Ward’s tactics in that fight, as well as his win over Mikkel Kessler earlier in the Super Six tournament last year. Ward seems to be getting by with a jab and an immediate head long clinch.
Ward mixes in a lot of leaning and shoving and is able to push his opponents around with this style. There were extended periods of his fight with Green that almost unwatchable. It was really boring. When Ward had Green pinned against the ropes and was just leaning on him to prevent him from escaping and throwing the shortest punches you could even imagine.
It was like watching Bruce Lee’s one inch punches. Not interesting to watch, but yeah, it was effective in controlling the over-matched Green. But even if Ward wins the Super Six tournament using this non fan friendly style of fighting, I don’t know how Ward is going to be able to establish himself as a media star like he’s probably hoping he’ll become. With that kind of style, which reminds me a lot of a cross by John Ruiz and an older version of Hopkins, it’s not fun to watch.
Ward may find himself the winner of the Super Six tournament, but not a huge star like he’s hoping to become. He’s got to make some changes in his fighting style and get a lot more offensive minded by removing the clinches, the pinning tot he ropes and the other mauling tactics that make him hard to watch. He could also smile a little more and show some vulnerability, maybe even talk some trash. I know he can be coached, but I think Ward needs to remake his image and use some of the louder stars as a role model. Being quiet and respectful won’t help Ward any. He’s got to be over the top and kind of crazy.
But most of all, he’s got to work on his fight game first. It needs changing badly. He used to be interesting to watch before he started in the Super Six tourney. But in his two fights of the tournament against Kessler and Green, Ward has been painful to watch because of the mugging he’s been doing.
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