The Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, CA was the site of the Goossen Tutor Promotions event that was headlined by Andre Ward and Edwin Rodriguez.

Rodriguez (24-1, 16 KOs) came into this fight with the WBA super middleweight champion Ward (26-0, 14 KOs) an undefeated fighter, but all that would change in 36 minutes. Actually, Edwin had already lost a day earlier, when his failure to make weight cost him any chance of winning the title from Ward before he even stepped between the ropes. It also cost him $200,000 out of his purse.

When all chances of a title fight went out the window on the scales courtesy of Rodriguez, some fans lost interest in the bout. They shouldn’t have. Ward gave him a boxing clinic that was great watching.

Rodriguez came out like a bull in the first round looking for that knockout, but Ward would have none of it. Style went out the window in the opener, but no matter, Andre kept control. Still a sloppy fight in the second, but that was not Ward’s doing. Edwin was grabbing, then chasing and lunging. Ward was picking his spots and connecting with his left.

Great third round for Andre. He can be so patient, then jump in and land his shots almost at will. At the same time he avoids the hands of Rodriguez. We saw a very unusual occurrence happen in the fourth. Referee Jack Reiss jumped in to split up the fighters but both kept punching, and both hit Reiss. He ended up taking two points away from EACH fighter.

Ward gave a clinic in the fifth. He would throw a little body jab or two, then land hard shots to Edwin’s head. Andre’s timing and agility is just amazing, as was his ability to keep his cool throughout.

Sixth round was much of the same. But I have to say that Rodriguez has a granite chin. Ward had hit him with some really hard shots that rocked him, but Edwin kept coming back. That part of Rodriguez’ game was amazing.

Not too much to say that is different about the seventh, or eighth, or ninth. Andre was nothing if not precise. You could see and feel him thinking, as he methodically picked apart his opponent.

In the last few seconds of the tenth round Ward hurt Rodriguez. He managed to get out of the round, even though his legs were wobbly and he had to hold Andre to avoid getting hit again.

The eleventh round was a good one for Edwin, comparatively. But Ward was still in control. The twelfth and final, and nothing had changed for Andre. He was still landing those measured shots of his and making Rodriquez miss. We watched a master at work, and it was sure fun to see.

We went to the scorecards. All the judges saw the fight a bit differently in numbers, 118-106, 117-107, 116-108, but all for the same fighter - Ward. No surprise at all with those scores, as Andre was just that damned good.

After the fight Rodriquez apologized about the weight, saying that this was his big chance and he knew that and he blew it. It seemed as if the apology fell on a bunch of deaf ears, however.

Keeping on that subject, Ward said, “It’s a championship fight and you’re supposed to conduct yourself like a champion. That’s not right. I fought a guy who was over 190 pounds tonight.”

Ward admitted that the fight wasn’t pretty, but as he said, “A win is a win. It wasn’t a spectacular performance, but you’ve got to take what a guy gives you sometimes.”

“A guy like Rodriguez, he’s not really coming to win, he’s coming to get lucky,” Andre continued. “That’s why he wants to grab, hit low, hit behind the head. He’s trying to land that big shot. But we gave him some of his own medicine at times.

“I hurt him with a big left hook in the tenth round. He did a good job of blocking it most of the night, but once I hit him I hurt him.

“I don’t know how much longer I have in this sport. But I’m not going to be a 40-year-old boxer, I promise you. I’ve got 20 years in this sport and I feel I’ve got a few more good years left. I want to go out with a bang.”

With regard to referee Reiss taking two points away from each fighter, both sides thought it was a good thing to do. They felt he took control of the fight and did what he had to do. Reiss himself said that he wanted the fighters to keep it clean, and one more point deduction would DQ one of them. His actions worked and we got to see an entire fight.

Charles Huerta (18-4, 11 KOs) took on Jonathan Arellano (14-2-2, 3 KOs) in a junior lightweight fight that was scheduled for eight rounds. Both men came out with both barrels and each had big moments in the first round. Arellano was strong and quick, and looked as good as I’ve ever seen him.

In the second again, they both had their times during the round. Jonathan was going after Huerta and kept taking the fight to him. He started off the third doing the same thing, but Charles was able to land some good shots in here too.

As the fight went on it became a harder one to score. Both fighters were doing some good work and Charles began to take the fight to Jonathan a bit more. Each round was an exciting one and figuring out the scores did not get any easier. Arellano was the star for the first part of the fight, and Huerta really came on strong in the later rounds.

Both men also were bloodied during the bout. This was an excellent and crowd-pleasing fight, and we went to the scorecards, which were 76-76, 80-72, and 78-74, giving the majority win to Arellano.

Two undefeated fighters stepped in the ring in a super middleweight bout that was scheduled for 10 rounds. But that would change when Brandon Gonzales (18-0-1, 10 KOs) faced off against Jonathan Nelson (19-1, 9 KOs).

In the first couple of rounds it was obvious that these two heavy hitters were pretty well-matched and were giving an entertaining fight. The third round was an excellent one for Gonzales. He landed heavy leather on Nelson and hurt him a few times.

The fourth was another good one for Brandon. As the more aggressive one, he was controlling most of the fight. The fifth round saw both fighters trying to do their best and each of them landed blows on the other. But it was still Gonzales who had that little edge.

From the fifth throughout the remainder of the fight it was all Brandon. In the tenth and final Nelson pushed him down, and was met with boos from the fans. Gonzales fought a smart, aggressive fight and was rewarded for his efforts by the judges. Two of the judges saw the fight 99-91 and the other had it 98-92, all for Gonzales. He gave an awesome performance and is certainly one to continue to watch.

Sergio Mora (25-3-2, 8 KOs) took on Milton Nunez (26-9-1, 24 KOs) in a middleweight fight that was scheduled for eight rounds. It didn’t take that long however. Mora, while hurt at the beginning of the fight, managed to stage a comeback.

Nunez went on the attack from the opening bell, but that hurt him in the end, as he got tired, allowing Sergio to move in. in the fifth, Mora began to punish Milton, who ran out of answers to the leather he was eating. To save him from himself, the referee jumped in and stopped the fight at 2:53 of round five.

Oscar Molina (7-0, 6 KOs) took on an unfit looking Carlos Sanchez (6-5, 2 KOs) in a super welterweight fight that was scheduled for six rounds. Sanchez took some really hard shots in the first round, as Molina was looking for the knockout, but Carlos refused to go down.

The second was another good one for Molina and brutal one for Sanchez, who once again refused to fall under the Oscar attack. The couple of rounds that followed were all the same – Molina on an ambitious attack and Sanchez not giving in to all the punishment he was taking. Right at the end of the fourth round the referee was on his way to stop the fight when the bell rang. But the fight was stopped before the fifth round began after the ring doctor had his look. This was a smart thing, as Carlos was taking a beating each round.

In a lightweight fight scheduled for eight rounds, John Molina Jr. (27-3, 22 KOs) faced off against Jorge Pimentel (26-18, 19 KOs). We saw an active first round from both fighters, with Molina, as expected, being the better of the two. But Pimentel was not just sitting back; he was trying to do his job as well.

But John did not need all eight of those rounds, not even close. In the second a barrage of punches put Jorge down, and shortly after that first knockdown, a left to body put him on the canvas again. Just at the bell, Pimentel got caught again and this time was down and out. The time was 2:59 seconds of round number two.

The undefeated Justin DeLoach (6-0, 4 KOs) took on Robert Hill (1-2) in a super welterweight bout that was scheduled for four rounds. There was a lot of action in the first round, with DeLoach showing off his power and speed.

After landing a series of good right hands which hurt Robert, Justin put Hill down and out with a left. Even before he fell the referee was waving off the fight. It was over at :51 seconds of the third round. An impressive win for DeLoach.

The first fight of the afternoon started promptly at 3:15, and featured middleweights Tony Hirsch (15-5-2) going up against Donyil Livingston (8-4-1, 4 KOs) in a fight scheduled for six rounds. Hirsch was landing the harder punches in the opening round. Tony packs a mean right hand, which he continued to show to Livingston in the second.

Hirsch remained the aggressor in the third. He was fast and accurate, and was in complete control. Donyil finally came to life a bit in the fifth, but a hard right hand by Tony almost put him down with just seconds left in the round. The sixth round was more of the same, and Hirsch was by far the one who showed the way. Two judges saw the fight 59-55 for Hirsch, while one had it, amazingly, 57-57. But Tony came out with the majority decision win.

After the main event we saw a fight that was scheduled for, and went, four rounds in the featherweight division. Juan Funez (3-0 1 KO) went up against Carlos Gonzalez (1-4). Funez was all over the blond Gonzalez in the first round. He was showing the skill that had won him his previous two professional fights.

Not much changed in the three rounds that followed. By all accounts it was all Funez, and when the final bell rang two of the three judges saw the fight that way as well. There were two scores of 40-36, and one had it 39-37, but all the scores went Juan’s way.

So, title or not title, it was good to see Ward back in action. And a lot of the fights provided entertainment value, with Brandon Gonzales, both John and Oscar Molina, and DeLoach being particularly fun to watch. The Huerta / Arellano fight was a good one as well – a fun afternoon and evening in Ontario.