Andre Ward beats Arthur Abraham by UD

No surprise there then.

As expected Ward won by UD, but that does not the tell the whole story.

Abraham started well, throwing more punches landed more, comming forward and throwing the jab at the same time, you could argubaly give him the first 3 rounds.

AA done well for those first 3, and changed his style from previous fights, going fowards and using the the jab.

But aftter the 3rd round he stopped this and went back to his old style and his static defense, allowed Ward to dictate the fight, using his own jabs and combos, with some good body shots.

Shame Arthur could not keep up his early work and ask questions of Ward.

It wouldn't be a Ward fight with out some dirty tactics, Ward hit on the break more tha a few time and landed a couple of low blows. But no headbutts, come on Andre, you must be slipping.

Cheers for the little review D4, I couldnt watch it from where I am at the moment.

Probably difficult to land a headbutt through AA's high guard. He will have a field day against Froch, supposing he makes it through to the final.

I hope Froch leathers him.

joeyjojo618 wrote:Cheers for the little review D4, I couldnt watch it from where I am at the moment.

Probably difficult to land a headbutt through AA's high guard. He will have a field day against Froch, supposing he makes it through to the final.

I hope Froch leathers him.

The jab will be key for Froch, an fast early jab not to get Ward set. When AA stopped throwing, Ward was allowed to get set and do his thing.

Froch has a great jab and movement.

It was a joke how one judge scored it 120-108 for Ward. Arthur did very well for the first 3 rounds.

I can't see where AA can go from here, lost his last 3 fights and really can't see him winning against decent boxers.

IMO he should go back to MW and build his confidence up in Germany and see where that goes.

Ward vs Abraham Post Fight Discussion might have been a better title seeing as its on Sky in a bit.

Thanks for the update, D4.

I didn't get to see the fight so it's nice to get the inside info. Abraham's stock has certainly taken a hit in this tournament, which is somewhat ironic, since I've always regarded him as being a more capable fighter than many others who have come out of Germany but who have been carefully protected.

ANOTHER 120-108 scorecard???

Ward is boring, but effective.

Really looking foward to seeing him again Froch; as long as he wins his next fight.

Is it worth watching?

Boxing master class from Ward followed the blue print Froch set him.Terrific jab and quick combinations if Froch gets past Johnson it's going to be a tough bout against Ward especially after seeing this fight.

Can't really say I'm surprised by that result.

I'm glad Ward won, although he has plenty of critics, nobody can deny that he's a highly skilled operator and merits a place in the final.

Hopefully, Froch doesnt slip up againt Johnson so we get see how The Cobra deals with the American in the final. Froch will need to produce the performance of his life.

I can see it being a close fight and an explsosive finish to the Super Six.

J.Benson II wrote:Can't really say I'm surprised by that result.

I'm glad Ward won, although he has plenty of critics, nobody can deny that he's a highly skilled operator and merits a place in the final.

Hopefully, Froch doesnt slip up againt Johnson so we get see how The Cobra deals with the American in the final. Froch will need to produce the performance of his life.

I can see it being a close fight and an explsosive finish to the Super Six.

Ward has the skills but Froch has the power and as he showed against Jerman Taylor is a threat going into the late rounds even if he is behind.

When will a ref do something about Ward's constant holding.

The final will ne interesting and quite evenly matched, but Ward will turn it into an ugly hug fest.

Liam_Main wrote:

J.Benson II wrote:Can't really say I'm surprised by that result.

I'm glad Ward won, although he has plenty of critics, nobody can deny that he's a highly skilled operator and merits a place in the final.

Hopefully, Froch doesnt slip up againt Johnson so we get see how The Cobra deals with the American in the final. Froch will need to produce the performance of his life.

I can see it being a close fight and an explsosive finish to the Super Six.

Ward has the skills but Froch has the power and as he showed against Jerman Taylor is a threat going into the late rounds even if he is behind.

Yes, I agree. Froch certainly doesnt lack heart and if Ward gets a bit dirty, I can't imagine Froch meekly accepting any illegal moves without fighting back.
Froch - Ward will be a close fight imo.
Froch's best chance of winning would be to drag Ward out of his comfort zone. Find a performance thats in between a boxer (vs Abraham) and a fighter (vs Pascal).

Fell asleep before the fight so haven't seen it, but I'm a bit disappointed by Abraham. Sounds like he learnt nothing from his other two defeats, and as a result is something of a spent force.

He has quite a strong looking head, Abraham. A headbutt might not be the best idea.

Comprehensive performance from Ward, after the first few rounds Abraham didn't really feature in the fight. Full on shell isn't an ideal style at the top level, half shell can be effective. At times Abraham seems to rely on it to greatly, almost like a defense mechanism. Needs to adapt his game more often and increase his punch output.

Ward appears to be gradually moving on a gear in each fight. Undoubtedly, he has Froch and Bute next in his sights, both of which would be entertaining scraps.

For all of you that didn't see the fight.

Abraham did learn and came out fighting moving forward and throwing punches, just like I said he would have to to win.

But that dried up after the 3 round and went back to his statice shell defence letting Ward gett of first and being driven back.

Abraham may have stamina problem because he seemed to lack the condition to keep the high pace up he set early to make him win round and make Ward struggle.


The way to beat Ward is the early constant jab is key, Froch has it and other tools to get the job done.


And Froch is an excellent boxer not just a fighter, you don't win ABA title and world a championship medal if you are not.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q9BCwltCziw/TcpN73vKSRI/AAAAAAAABoA/_Zjsd-NmDvI/s320/super-six+semi+Tom+Casino+-+Showtime.jpg

Look what Froch has his eye on.

Trust Froch has the beating of Ward.

D4thincarnation wrote:For all of you that didn't see the fight.

Abraham did learn and came out fighting moving forward and throwing punches, just like I said he would have to to win.

But that dried up after the 3 round and went back to his statice shell defence letting Ward gett of first and being driven back.

So he hasn't really learnt much then, has he?

D4thincarnation wrote:http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q9BCwltCziw/TcpN73vKSRI/AAAAAAAABoA/_Zjsd-NmDvI/s320/super-six+semi+Tom+Casino+-+Showtime.jpg

Look what Froch has his eye on.

Something off-camera?

Stills of the fight here. Borderline low blow, elbow...classy stuff.

Taken from boxingscene.com, post-fight comments:

Andre Ward: "Again, just like in the Bika fight. We showed that we could win ugly. Tonight, we showed that we could win in a way that was other than our original game plan."

Does he ever win any other way?

Ward will dominate Froch - that's IF Froch gets through Johnson which is no certainty. Ward is all wrong for Froch.

hitmansam wrote:Ward will dominate Froch - that's IF Froch gets through Johnson which is no certainty. Ward is all wrong for Froch.

Explain, what does Ward do well, apart from headbutts, low blows, elbows and hitting on the break.

Froch has the better jab, chin power, and movement.

Abraham looked a bit spent after just 3 rounds. In the 4th he started doing his plodding in a straight line guard up not throwing anything and I thought he was just taking a breather but he kept with it for the remainder of the fight. He wont be able to beat top level fighters by keeping a high guard, letting them tee off on it and throwing maybe 10 huge hayemakers in a round that are easily avoided, I think he was closer to knocking out some of the people in the 1st row than Ward last night with his wild swings.

D4thincarnation wrote:

hitmansam wrote:Ward will dominate Froch - that's IF Froch gets through Johnson which is no certainty. Ward is all wrong for Froch.

Explain, what does Ward do well, apart from headbutts, low blows, elbows and hitting on the break.

Froch has the better jab, chin power, and movement.

Ward has the quicker hands and much better movement than Froch.Ward has alot more snap in his jab than Froch.I'm a big Froch fan but I can't see him beating Ward.Plus Ward didn't do much if any headbutts,low blows etc.

When he commits to his jab Froch has the best in the division

Liam_Main wrote:

D4thincarnation wrote:

hitmansam wrote:Ward will dominate Froch - that's IF Froch gets through Johnson which is no certainty. Ward is all wrong for Froch.

Explain, what does Ward do well, apart from headbutts, low blows, elbows and hitting on the break.

Froch has the better jab, chin power, and movement.

Ward has the quicker hands and much better movement than Froch.Ward has alot more snap in his jab than Froch.I'm a big Froch fan but I can't see him beating Ward.Plus Ward didn't do much if any headbutts,low blows etc.

The only way Froch loses if he robbed, and that could well happen going by some of the scoring for Ward's fights.

Froch has better footwork IMO, Ward does move laterally better and better body movement. But it is Froch's jab will will trouble him no end.

Let hope there is a good ref if Froch should meet Ward in the final.

Liam_Main wrote:Plus Ward didn't do much if any headbutts,low blows etc.

This isn't a criticism of you, Liam, but I think it's pretty bad that we're even thinking things like that.

I don't have a clue why abraham stopped using his jab, he was very competitive when he did use it. Ward keeps impressing and he cut the dirty tactics to a minimum. He is always very respectful of his opponent and is tremendously talented. Its a shame for him that he doesn't hit harder. Froch will have to being his A game but I believe he can win.

pretty easy night for ward i am sad to say, AA was different for first three rounds, but after that he reverted back to his old ways. Only real difference was that he kept coming forward event ho he was getting hit but just didnt thow enough, and when he did get off he threew too many hayemakers that ward saw a mile off. He started of doing well with his straight left jab but as ward gre more confident AA reclined. AA trainer, now i dont know if the translater was doing a good job or not but he gave him no instruction that i heard other than 'throw punches arthur' How abot, throw the jab and vary your punches. AA has almost no variance of punches, it was all left hook/jab and right hand hayemakers after the third. AA v pavlik would be competative because pavlik doesnt get off much these days and doesnt throw in combos, that would be close cos pavlik looked terrible in last fight

Ward wasn't able to headbutt because AA always had his gloves up. I thought AA's style which stopped Ward working on the inside might make it a decent fight, and it was early on. AA has no plan B though, if he wants to get his career on track he needs a new trainer desperately.

Still not sure about Ward. He keeps beating top class opposition but doesn't look particularly good doing so with his negative/spoiling/holding tactics. Ward makes B-hop look like Arturo Gatti.

Abraham always has suffered from stamina problems.
This is the reason why he usually starts slow and stays inactive for such long periods during his bouts. Its done purely to reserve energy.
He's incapable of fighting at a high pace for any more than 2 rounds at a time.
I suspect that he probably felt that his best chance of winning was to land a KO in the early rounds, hence the unusually frantic start and the reason he gassed after the 3rd.

J.Benson II wrote:Abraham always has suffered from stamina problems.
This is the reason why he usually starts slow and stays inactive for such long periods during his bouts. Its done purely to reserve energy.
He's incapable of fighting at a high pace for any more than 2 rounds at a time.
I suspect that he probably felt that his best chance of winning was to land a KO in the early rounds, hence the unusually frantic start and the reason he gassed after the 3rd.

Dont know what fight D4 was watching but I didnt see much improvement in Abraham.

He plodded forward, behind his guard, through a few jabs, one which shock Ward a little bit and then nothing out of the ordinary.

I think he must have some serious stamina issues, as he was inactive for large periods of the fight and he would walk back to his cornor gassed, mouth wide open like he'd just emptied his tank and went gung ho for 3 mins.

Abraham has got no upper body or head movement, footwork or stamina.

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:

J.Benson II wrote:Abraham always has suffered from stamina problems.
This is the reason why he usually starts slow and stays inactive for such long periods during his bouts. Its done purely to reserve energy.
He's incapable of fighting at a high pace for any more than 2 rounds at a time.
I suspect that he probably felt that his best chance of winning was to land a KO in the early rounds, hence the unusually frantic start and the reason he gassed after the 3rd.

Dont know what fight D4 was watching but I didnt see much improvement in Abraham.

He plodded forward, behind his guard, through a few jabs, one which shock Ward a little bit and then nothing out of the ordinary.

I think he must have some serious stamina issues, as he was inactive for large periods of the fight and he would walk back to his cornor gassed, mouth wide open like he'd just emptied his tank and went gung ho for 3 mins.

Abraham has got no upper body or head movement, footwork or stamina.

Abraham, is a slow started, has a static defense in where he wait for his oponent to stop throwing then throws.

In the first 3 round of this fight he threw when going forward, beats Ward to the punch and winning the rounds.


If you can see the change there from his previous fight, then I can't help you.

I gave him the 2nd round. 119-109

Didnt anyone else see the fight and give Abraham the first three rounds?

Punch Stats:
Total Punches: Ward - 178 of 444; Abraham - 158 of 333.
Jabs: Ward - 107 of 289; Abraham - 64 of 177.
Power Shots: Ward - 71 of 155; Abraham - 94 of 156.
Combos Landed: Ward - 24; Abraham - 22.

D4thincarnation wrote:Punch Stats:
Total Punches: Ward - 178 of 444; Abraham - 158 of 333.
Jabs: Ward - 107 of 289; Abraham - 64 of 177.
Power Shots: Ward - 71 of 155; Abraham - 94 of 156.
Combos Landed: Ward - 24; Abraham - 22.

Are those stats accurate?

BALTIMORA wrote:

D4thincarnation wrote:Punch Stats:
Total Punches: Ward - 178 of 444; Abraham - 158 of 333.
Jabs: Ward - 107 of 289; Abraham - 64 of 177.
Power Shots: Ward - 71 of 155; Abraham - 94 of 156.
Combos Landed: Ward - 24; Abraham - 22.

Are those stats accurate?

They are the stats from Showtime, have not seen the compubox stats as yet.

One of the things that struck me, was Ward is not as accurate as Froch.

Froch was getting through AA guard all the time, Ward tried to look flashy but his punches hit AA guard most of the time and very few landed cleanly.

Froch has an excellent jab when utilised; which might be the key to beating Ward. Ward is more athletic and faster, but I don't think he hits as hard as Froch.

He also won't have the height and reach advantages which he had against Abraham.

Cant believe Abraham landed nearly 50% of his punches.

Would have to see CompuBox punchstats to confirm

What do Showtime use if not compubox?

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/boxing/2011-05-15-ward-abraham-super-six_N.htm

Ward, who threw an amazing 289 jabs and landed 178 of 444 total punches, according to CompuBox.

Maybe they are the compubox stats.

But the official compubox stats will probably be around later today, with more details.

doesn't really surprise me. AA caught a lot on his gloves.

Am not surprised at the figures for Ward. Its for Abraham.

D4thincarnation wrote:

Ward, who threw an amazing 289 jabs and landed 178 of 444 total punches, according to CompuBox.

Maybe they are the compubox stats.

They will be, Showtime wont do their own.

Scottrf wrote:

D4thincarnation wrote:

Ward, who threw an amazing 289 jabs and landed 178 of 444 total punches, according to CompuBox.

Maybe they are the compubox stats.

They will be, Showtime wont do their own.

The showtime stats at the end of the Pacquiao vs Mosley fight were slighty different to the Compubox stats.

Really? They never used to do punchstats, would be very surprised if they didn't just adopt compubox. How else would the stats quoted be exactly the same?

Scottrf wrote:Really? They never used to do punchstats, would be very surprised if they didn't just adopt compubox. How else would the stats quoted be exactly the same?

I think they are probably the compubox stats, just pointing out an anomaly from last week.

Showtime though always say lets look at the punch stats, while HBO calls it compubox.

It could be different.