In what served as an appetizer for their eventual meeting, WBA Super Middleweight Champion Mikkel Kessler and undefeated contender Andre Ward had no trouble dismantling two overmatched opponents on Saturday. With the wins, they are clear to face one another on November 21 in the Super Six World Boxing Classic.
KESSLER CRUSHES MANDATORY OPPONENT PERDOMO
Fighting at the MCH Messecenter in his native country of Denmark, Kessler, considered the early favorite to win the Super Six tournament, destroyed the mandatory challenger to his WBA crown, tall southpaw Gusmyr Perdomo of Venezuela, in four rounds.
The fight was Kessler’s first in nearly a year, having last fought in October of 2008 when he scored a third round knockout over Danilo Haussler. And against Perdomo, he started slow as one would expect. In fact, neither fighter landed a single significant punch the entire first round until the last ten seconds – when Kessler scored with a three-punch combination to the head of Perdomo.
Perdomo wanted to prove he was more than a tune-up as he took the fight to Kessler in round two, landing some good shots of his own. Still, Kessler had the better round as he managed to get his jab going and mixed in some right hands behind it to keep Perdomo off balance much of the time.
Perdomo’s poor balance really hurt him in round three. Winning the round early with some strong left hands that snapped Kessler’s head back, Perdomo later found himself being battered on the ropes by the WBA Champion. Then, with under half a minute to go, Kessler dropped a right hand to the shoulder of Perdomo that dumped the Venezuelan on his backside. Not hurt by the shot, Perdomo was up instantly but down big on points early.
While Perdomo wasn’t hurt in round three, Kessler quickly stung him with a sharp one-two under a minute into round four. Perdomo doubled over, clearly buzzed, and wobbled back into the ropes. Kessler rushed in for the kill, landing some glancing hooks from both hands. Even though Kessler wasn’t landing anything clean, Perdomo wasn’t defending himself at all, and he was on shaky legs. Referee Russell Mora wisely stepped in and stopped the fight, and Perdomo collapsed to a knee immediately after.
Back on his feet, Perdomo shook his head as if to complain, but he still seemed out of it as Mora walked him gingerly back to his corner.
So with that piece of business out of the way, Kessler enters the Super Six tournament with his WBA Championship in tact and showed why he is the favorite to emerge the winner of the super middleweight tournament.
WARD WIPES PUDWILL OUT
Since Kessler was getting in a fight before their showdown in November, Ward decided to stay on par and take a tune-up fight himself – against Shelby Pudwill, a fighter who was once knocked out in one round by John Duddy. Ward had no problem in scoring an easy third round knockout at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California.
Ward dominated from the outset, blasting Pudwill with hooks to the head – and especially to the body – throughout the first round. Pudwill got in a good straight right and a left hook in round two, but Ward came back to punish him with blazing combinations. As the round wound down, Ward buckled Pudwill’s knees with some sharp straight right hands to the head.
Ward opened the third round by smacking Pudwill with a hard left hook. Sensing his man wearing down, Ward later rushed Pudwill and caught him with a solid body shot that doubled Pudwill over and forced him to a knee. Pudwill started to get up and nearly fell into the ropes as Referee Pat Russell issued his count. He managed to make it to his feet at the count of six, sporting a cut under his left eye. Russell took Pudwill to the ringside doctor, who allowed him to continue.
But the fight didn’t last much longer as Ward smacked Pudwill with four left hooks when the action resumed. Ward then wound up his right glove and smashed it across Pudwill’s face, seemingly paying homage to Sugar Ray Leonard and Roy Jones Jr. A right hand upstairs had Pudwill stunned and in full defense mode. Ward motioned with his glove that Russell might want to consider stopping the fight before adding a left hook to the body, followed by one upstairs that knocked Pudwill back to the ropes.
Pudwill could hardly defend himself as Ward beat shots into his gloves against the ropes. After a straight right got through and snapped Pudwill’s head up, Ward again looked to Russell and urged him to stop the fight. This time, Russell obeyed, waving things off with 45 seconds left in the third.
Pudwill showed grit but was no match for the hand speed and ability of Ward. He wasn’t happy about being stopped on his feet, but there wasn’t much he could do to change the way things were going.
So in the end, everything went according to plan as both Ward and Kessler won their fights and did so without suffering any injuries that might postpone their November 21 meeting. Their performances were near-mirror images in terms of length and how they ended. Kessler’s opponent was more skilled while Ward’s opponent was clearly the tougher man. And neither made it through four rounds.
This night served as an appetizer for what is to come in the Super Six World Championship Boxing Classic – a main course unlike anything boxing has presented in years. Since both men looked equally good, the Kessler-Ward fight, as will be the case with all the other fights in the tournament, will be extremely difficult to predict but highly anticipated. For now, Kessler and Ward have done their part to whet fans’ appetites.
