Andre Ward - Emerging Superstar

In a tournament involving the likes of Froch, Kessler, Abraham and Taylor, it is easy to overlook soft-spoken, quietly confident Andre Ward, despite an extensive amateur background (that includes a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics) and a hugely promising start to his pro career.

Dismissing him, however, is a grave mistake.

Going by the self-styled nickname of “Son of God” – S.O.G. for short – Ward has moved through the ranks at a brisk pace, following his decision to try his hand at professional boxing after his Olympic triumph.

In fact, in his first 19 fights, the Oakland native has only ever faced one boxer who did not boast a winning record. In his last seven bouts, five of which he won by KO/TKO, his opponents had a collective record of 147-14 – an impressive resume for the 25-year-old.

Despite all of this, Ward’s greatest weapon against the elite pugilists he will face is his work ethic; a recurring theme in all of the interviews that S.O.G. gives is his propensity to prepare diligently and to scrutinize every part of himself before he steps into the ring. Ward is likely to talk about being in the correct state of mind, in perfect physical shape and of possessing good knowledge of his opponent’s ways. He always says that the most important aspect of camp is to achieve a high level of stability that will enable him to perform on fight night.

I will gently remind you that we live in a world in which Chris Arreola does not fulfill his potential because he cannot control his weight, and James Kirkland throws away his career after being found in (illegal, parole-violating) possession of a gun – again. Ward’s stability spiel is more than a front he puts up: it’s the primary reason he has managed to cope well with fame, and make no significant mistakes in doing so.

Of course, this does not mean Ward is lacking in the technical department. He is prodigiously skilled and utilizes a deadly combination of speed and power to find and exploit the weaknesses of his opponents. He has outstanding ring generalship and is highly efficient in employing both established boxing fundamentals and an improvised, awkward-to-deal-with-style, as he proved to the world time and again in winning the gold medal in the light heavyweight category in Athens in 2004. To do so, he had to get past a collection of highly decorated opponents: reigning amateur world champ Evgeny Makarenko, former world champ Utkirbek Haydarov and future heavyweight Olympic medalist Clemente Russo.

The only challenge that Ward now has ahead of him is that of delivering the goods when it matters most and taking the necessary risks in order to win. Truth be told, Ward has never faced a significant challenge, nor has he had to cope with being an underdog or unforeseen adjustments during a fight. His first bout in the Super Six World Boxing Classic will be against current WBA champ Mikkel Kessler – a perennial top-twenty pound-for-pound boxer. This calls for a versatility that Ward has not yet had a chance to exhibit, and may come to represent his first ever uphill battle. A win would give S.O.G. his first major belt and propel him to superstardom; a loss would not set him back considerably, but would provide a priceless learning experience.

The Oakland-native's promoter, Dan Goossen, head of Goossen-Tutor Promotions, insists that Andre Ward is the next big thing. We’ve seen he has the individual pieces needed to build himself into a dominating champ. Let’s see if he can put them together in his hour of need.

World Boxing Classic - Six Man Super Middleweight Tournament is Official!

Upon hearing the news, I took a lengthy walk and inspected the state of the world. No, there was no fire raining from the sky; nor were the seas running red with blood. Now that the initial shock is wearing off, I can assume that the six-man super middleweight tournament that Showtime has been harping on about is actually happening! But - it seems paradoxical, somehow:

Could it be that six elite boxers are actually signing on to fight ... each other?

Most fighters these days are too preoccupied with protecting their win-loss ratio and conservatively calculating the risk and reward associated with every bout. They are too busy trying to negotiate finances, or else choosing to make routine title defenses against alphabet-belt mandatory challengers.

Therefore, I suggest that all of us take off our proverbial hats to the six men who have agreed to compete in World Boxing Classic - a round-robin tournament organized by Showtime, with the express purpose of crowning a divisional champ among the 168 pounders. The pugilists involved (in alphabetical order) are:

Arthur Abraham (30-0-0, 24 KOs): fighting out of Germany, the Armenian warrior who goes by King Arthur has made ten successive defenses of his IBF middleweight belt. He is vacating it in order to move up to 168 and take part in the tournament.

Andre Dirrell (18-0-0, 13 KOs): the Flint, Michigan native won a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics and is ready to step up to elite opposition in a tournament which will give him the chance to showcase his considerable skills.

Carl Froch (25-0-0, 20 KOs): having finally emerged from the shadow of Joe Calzaghe as the top British super middleweight, Froch made his first defense of the WBC title by knocking out Jermain Taylor in the 12th round of a hotly contested fight. He is putting his WBC strap on the line to participate.

Mikkel Kessler (41-1-0, 31 KOs): former WBA and WBC super middleweight champion, his only loss is a decision to a prime Joe Calzaghe - which makes him very good, indeed! Currently WBA champ, he is scheduled to put his title on the line in order to compete.

Jermain Taylor (28-3-1, 17 KOs): one-time undisputed middleweight champ, he has recently suffered several setbacks, in the form of two losses to Kelly Pavlik, and one to Carl Froch. Taylor is looking to rebound by winning the tournament, dominating the super middleweight division and adding to his collection of belts.

Andre Ward (19-0-0, 12 KOs): the Olympic gold-medallist is looking to become recognized as the best 168-pounder out there. Superb boxing skills and an impressive string of victories make him a worthy challenger to the likes of Kessler and Froch.

Almost as if to prove to the world that the tourney is no hoax, Showtime gathered all six men, placed them on a podium for photographs, and announced the first-round of fights:

Arthur Abraham vs. Jermain Taylor
Carl Froch vs. Andre Dirrell
Mikkel Kessler vs. Andre Ward

In case you're wondering by now, the format is as follows: there are three bouts scheduled for each fighter. At the end of it, the boxers ranked one through four, in terms of points, will face off in a semi-final, to decide who fights for the overall title. A worthy concept, if you ask me! Points are awarded thusly:
2 for a win (with a 1-point bonus for a KO/TKO)
1 for a draw
0 for a loss

So. If this tournament happens as per the schedule set forth by Showtime, we should have 12 extremely interesting fights over the next year-and-a-half - all involving prime contenders/champions!

Of course, there is a little something missing: namely, Lucian Bute, and another worthy candidate (Pavlik? Wright? Andrade? Balzsay?) that could have turned World Boxing Classic into an eight-man affair and put three or four belts on the line, thus producing a true undisputed champion. Showtime argued against this, citing an exaggerated time frame and logistical difficulties - both valid excuses. In any case, Bute is likely to be a stand-by for the tourney, in case of injury or contractual dispute amongst the other fighters, so we may yet see him in action. Regardless of this, I think all boxing fans should focus on the positive aspect of World Boxing Classic - namely, that it does the sweet science a world of good, and is the most ambitious and all-encompassing boxing endeavor of the decade. Bravo to Showtime and the six pugilists involved!

To celebrate this brave group, PureBoxingPress will be chronicling the careers of each of the fighters over the next couple of weeks (in reverse alphabetical order, just because). Therefore, please be sure to stay tuned for the piece on Andre Ward, which will be up over the next 36 hours.

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Boxing banter is, of course, always welcome!

"Sugar" Shane Mosley and his Great Dilemma

The Staples Center was fuller than it had ever been. Hordes of boxing fans had descended upon the arena to see one of the most intriguing welterweight matchups of the decade. But "Sugar" Shane Mosley could not be bothered with that just now - he had a very important item of business to take care of, and could afford no distractions.

The bell sounds, indicating the start of the ninth round, with Mosley and Margarito tapping gloves as they come out of their respective corners. Sugar Shane stalks the Tijuana Tornado, landing combinations to the Mexican's granite chin with an otherworldly speed. Mosley has his opponent on the ropes continually and proceeds to up the ante forty seconds in. Margarito crumples under the barrage and referee Raul Caiz steps in to wave the fight off.

Calm as you like, Mosley turns his back to his bruised-and-battered opponent, raises his arms above his head, and proceeds to bow to each section of the crowd, as though nothing of note had just occurred.

But something big happened that night. Something so big, that Mosley has had to wait six full months in order to even contemplate his next move. What happened was that the 37-year-old version of Sugar outsmarted, outfought and outlasted a prime Antonio Margarito, who had been tagged as the best welterweight in the world.

In the course of one night, Mosley went from generally being regarded as "washed-up" to being WBA world champ in his division, and the RING's number one rated contender. Members of the press who had been howling about a mismatch, fearing for Mosley's safety in the face of "hell-in-short-pants" Margarito were left staring, mouth-agape, at a bizarre twist of the laws of time.

In this fairy-tale ending, however, the hero is not permitted to ride off into the sunset with the woman of his dreams (ironically, Mosley's wife filed for divorce a week before the Margarito match). This is the world of boxing, and our heroes must be back to entertain us until they slur their words or until the public has some new icon to look up to. Mosley, being a fighter at heart who has never attempted to avoid any boxer at all, was eager for a shot at pound-for-pound champ Manny Pacquiao, or the awkward-and-highly-regarded Paul Williams, or a unification against Andre Berto, or a rematch with the outstanding Miguel Cotto.

The problem is this - Mosley represents a tremendous risk in exchange for minimal reward. If he were beaten by any of the above, the public is liable to claim that Mosley is too old to be relevant. Pacquiao, Williams, Berto and Cotto know that Sugar Shane still presents a formidable challenge, even at an advanced age. As such, they would much rather take easier routes. The deal is this:

As of right now, Cotto is otherwise preoccupied. He has already beaten Mosley, in 2007, in a close decision. Junito has been in wars with the Mosley-dethroned Margarito (which he lost via TKO) and with Joshual Clottey (in which he won a narrow decision) and is currently negotiating with Pacquiao. After all the punishment Miguel Cotto has taken in two of his last three fights, the last thing he wants to do is rematch with a fierce Mosley, who would no doubt give him fits. He would much rather take the pound-for-pound fight against Pacman, which represents less of a risk, profesionally speaking, and more money.

Similarly, Pacquiao is looking to take the easy road in order to retain his mythical crown for just a bit longer. After sending Oscar de la Hoya and (hopefully) Ricky Hatton into retirement in his last two outings, the Filipino master will be looking to take on more big names from the 135-147 lbs bracket. However, he will only do so on his own terms, with regard to both the financial aspect and the catch-weight. Pacquiao vs. Mosley could have taken place somewhere above 140 and below 147, but Roach was reticent to get the fight made; truth be told, Mosley hasn't been under 147 lbs since 1999. I think that asking him to make 143 is an insult, especially when you consider the fact that Manny had no problem fighting Golden Boy at 147. When asked about this discrepancy, Roach replied:

"Yeah - but Mosley isn't Oscar."

Which is his way of saying: "I know Manny'll get beat at 147. We gotta drain Mosley a lil bit."

With that, Mosley danced around Pacman for a little, trying to persuade him to take the fight, and even agreeing to the catch-weight and whatever split of the purse the Filipino may have wanted. Truth is this: Manny will only fight Mosley if it's the last possible option. Hence the ongoing negotiations with Cotto, which, last I heard, weren't going too well, on account of Cotto grumbling about making anything below 145 lbs. As a countermeasure, Pacquiao has been whispering about Mosley agreeing to 143. That's option one.

Between options one and two, it is only correct that we talk about Paul Williams, who has had a Mosley-like difficulty in finding willing opponents (the infinitely admirable Winky Wright being the sole exception). Sugar has explicitly stated that he would not like to fight The Punisher, but I'm fairly sure that, in the right conditions, he would. To cement this view, the news broke a couple of days ago that Mosley was done chasing Pac, and wanted Berto, Williams, Cintron or Clottey. Any of these fights would be intriguing, but none more so than the Williams bout. The Punisher, who has an 82-inch reach (Mike Tyson had 71 by comparison), is highly skillful and would cause big, big problems even for the prodigiously-gifted Mosley.

Much like the Pac-Sugar connection, Sugar-Punisher will only be on in the most extenuating circumstances. Now, back to business:

Option two for Mosley is Andre Berto, with whom Golden Boy Promotions has begun to negotiate. First of all, this would present a unification of the WBA and WBC belts, which is always significant. Secondly, it would show the world what Berto, who is an undefeated former Olympian and amateur standout, is made of. Problem with Berto-Mosley is this: it wouldn't sell well. I mean, Mosley has a decent following in LA, but Berto's fought two of his last four bouts in Biloxi and Tennessee - indicative of a chronic disinterest on behalf of the public.

Oh, and of course, Berto might wind up being completely overmatched here. I mean, he barely got by Luis Collazo, in a fight which I scored a draw. Mosley damn near shut the man out a couple of years ago. It is also possible that Berto will break out of his shell and stun the world, commencing a reign of terror atop the talented welterweight ranks. But it's less likely than a Mosley win over Margarito looked about ten months ago. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

In any case, I sincerely hope that Pacquiao makes up his mind about who he wants to fight - and soon. Him and Cotto can go at it this November, around the time when Mosley and Berto would be facing off. The winners can be paired up, or enter the post-Marquez Mayweather sweepstakes. The possibilities are near-endless. And most of them are mouthwatering.