Andre Ward wanted to impress. He wanted to impress his opponent, Shelby Pudwill. He wanted to impress the assembled pro-Ward crowd. But mostly Andre Ward wanted to impress his upcoming Super Six World Boxing Classic opponent; the current WBA middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler. And Impress he did in a one-sided affair against an outclassed Pudwill (22-4-1). “I wanted a great performance. Just a win isn’t enough”, said Ward in the post fight press conference. “I wanted to put on a spectacular performance and I think I did.”

Ward started the fight in attack mode. Aggressive from the bell, Ward (20-0) threw hard right hands and uppercuts looking for the knockout. Pudwill climbed into a defensive shell to survive the onslaught. Ward reverted to boxing in the second and worked the jab-right hand to perfection. In the third Ward dropped Pudwill with a short left hook. Pudwill rose to his feet and was greeted by a hyper-attacking Ward.

When Ward landed a stiff right hand down the middle he looked over at referee Pat Russell and urged him to stop the fight. Russell obliged, stopping the fight at 2:16 of the third. “Once he got knocked down the fight was over”, explained Ward. “The referee did his job and stopped the fight.”
 

Matthew Greer landed a big right hand that staggered James “Lights Out” Toney, knocking Toney into the corner where Greer followed with a short burst. Greer had his 15 seconds of fame. The rest of the fight belonged to Toney. From the opening bell Toney (72-6-3) lathered Greer (12-6) with left hooks to the body. By the middle of the first Greer’s side had been battered red. After absorbing a series of four or five body shots Greer looked to his corner for help. It didn’t come but Greer managed to remain upright. Greer attacked Toney to open the second knowing a quick knockout was his only shot. When it didn’t come his corner stepped on the apron to end the fight.

The stoppage came at 2:33 of the second. Following the fight Toney proclaimed himself the next heavyweight champion of the world. Fighting at his lightest weight in years, the 217.5 lb Toney added, “The Klitschko’s are like rabbits. When you push a rabbit to a corner it faints.”
 

In the most competitive and entertaining fight of the night, light middleweight Francisco Santana won a hard fought split decision victory over Tony Hirsch (9-3-1).

The fighters went toe-to-toe for six rugged rounds trading leather to the delight of the crowd. However, delight turned to disgust when the decision was rendered declaring Santana (11-1) the victor.
 

Terrel Williams landed a straight right hand that spun Joshua Zurfluh 180 degrees and separated him from his senses. In only his second professional fight, Williams (2-0) had no problem with the more experienced Zurfluh (1-7-1). Williams landed short left hooks and straight right hands with surprising ease. The fight ending punch came at 1:55 of the second. Referee Pat Russell didn’t bother with the count.
 

In a battle of undefeated junior welterweights, Mike Dallas Jr. pitched a near shutout against Vincent Arroyo, of NY, New York. Dallas (10-0-1) dominated the fight with a vicious left hook and hand speed Arroyo could not match. In the second Dallas tattooed Arroyo (9-1), sending him flying into the ropes. Referee Pat Russell didn’t score the blow a knockdown but easily could have. Picture perfect Left hooks dislodged Arroyo’s mouthpiece twice in the third and again in the fourth. With less than a minute to go in the sixth, Arroyo landed a right hand that wobbled Dallas. With Dallas on unsteady legs Arroyo went in for the kill. Dallas tied up Arroyo and hung on to the bell. Judge Jack Reiss scored the bout 60-54 while Judges Werner and Caiz Jr. saw it 59-55 in favor of Dallas.
 

Jr. featherweight Rico Ramos dropped Victor Martinez with a left hook, right hand combination that brought a halt to their bout at 1:46 of the third round. Ramos (12-0) scored a knock down in the first with a double left hook to the body that left Martinez (15-6) writhing in pain. In fact, Martinez had a pained look on his face with every left hook he absorbed. Ramos, a top flight prospect from Pico Rivera, looks ready to face the next level of competition.