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Ward Gets Past Barrera, Still
Trails Kovalev
By Andrew Lapachet - FightNet Radio
Photos: Richard Lopez
Oracle Arena, Oakland Ca - In front of 8,534 family, friends
and fans, hometown hero and former undisputed Super
Middleweight King Andre Ward (29-0, 15 KO’s) made his debut
in the light heavyweight division, winning a unanimous
decision against the undefeated but inexperienced Sullivan
Barrera (17-1, 12 KO’s). Going into this fight nobody gave
Barrera a chance to win and for the most part it played out
that way as Ward won just about every round on all three
judges’ scorecards. The fact that he didn’t win every round
should be a compliment to Barrera.
The Cuban born boxer never gave up and never stopped coming
forward, even though he was outmatched in almost every
aspect of the fight. Hand speed, foot movement, defense,
nothing seemed to be on the level of the former #2 P4P
fighter. Ward even with all the distractions, the layoff and
the rust, still looked like he was on another level.
Early in the fight you could see Barrera did not have an
answer for Wards check/counter left hook. It landed at will
all night and dropped Barrera in round 3. Sullivan was able
to adjust during the fight but really never stopped the
punch from landing. Ward threw so many left hooks many
ringside observers including myself were convinced he had
hurt his right hand at some point in the fight. When media
approached Ward with the question, he said his team had seen
the flaw on tape during training. “They called it, they knew
the left hook was going to get it and we almost did it,”
said Ward.
As for Barrera even in defeat it seemed he walked away a
winner. Everyone on Barrera’s team was pleased with what the
young fighter was able to do against one of the best in the
sport today. His trainer Abel Sanchez said after the fight
he liked what Barrera showed him in the ring and now knows
what he has to work on in the gym to prepare Barrera for his
next big fight.
“We fought one of the best four fighters in the ring today,
I’m not ashamed of what Sullivan did, he did exactly what we
asked him, 17 fights into his pro career is a tough task to
fight a guy like that,” said Sanchez.
Sanchez went on to say even though he knew Barrera was still
young there was no way they could pass up on the pay day and
the opportunity to fight Ward on HBO as a headliner. The
decision was the right one as Barrera promoter Kathy Duva
said HBO was already in contact with her to bring Barrera
back in the near future.
What HBO or Roc Nation didn’t announce is that they are
going to work on getting Ward vs Kovalev made sooner than
later and that’s not a good thing for boxing fans. A fight
of this magnitude should not need another tune up fight.
Ward was the best super middleweight in the world, Kovalev
is the best light heavyweight. Both men are undefeated; both
are P4P caliber type fighters.
So what's the hold-up?
First reason is Ward does not want the fight. Evidence of
this is when he gave himself a B- on his performance at the
end of the fight. Ward knows a B- does not defeat Kingpin of
the division.
Second is Ward is still not a draw in his hometown meaning
he is not a draw anywhere else either. The money these two
will be seeking can only be generated by Casino fees and PPV
buys.
Ward still does not seem ready for both. Kovalev has some
star power in the states but for this type fight Ward needs
to be more of a household name. For whatever reason Ward has
not crossed over to a super star here in America yet and
because of this I don’t see this fight happening in November
as rumors are suggesting.
Don’t be surprised if Barrera meets Kovalev before Ward.
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