Virgil turned me around when I was a kid, so I feel very strong from that stance. “It’s something that’s natural,” Ward told reporters at the post-fight press conference. It also gave Ward a different vantage point from which to see any potential openings in the Colombian’s defense. Yet, here was Ward shifting effortlessly, giving Brand one more thing to think about. Ward later said his wife and trainer had been urging him to use the tactic more often.Īndre Ward (L) fights Alexander Brand in their WBO Intercontinental light heavyweight bout at Oracle Arena on Aug. Jersey Joe Walcott, Kid Gavilan or Marvelous Marvin Hagler were among the very few boxers blessed with the skill and the confidence to pull off this strategy successfully. Historically, only a handful of boxing’s true greats ever attempted to do that. It is a dangerous tactic that could make them more vulnerable to a left hook from an opponent, which has less distance to travel. It was an unusual maneuver, one rarely used by even world-class fighters.Įven the best boxers simply can’t fight as well by shifting from one side to another. With less than a minute left in a tense, uneventful fifth round, Ward suddenly and smoothly shifted his stance from orthodox to southpaw. Brand even flashed a smile at Ward, when the rushes by arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world ended without consequence. “The Son of God,” Ward’s nickname, had won every round on the official cards, but he had yet to mesmerize the crowd or solve his opponent’s troublesome style. There was a stiff left jab to Brand’s body or a straight glancing right to the head, but they were single punches, not combinations. What precious little scoring there had been was mostly by 32-year-old Ward.
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The match had been little more than a series of nervous feints, missed punches and clinches that left the partisan Ward crowd of nearly 9,000 at the Oracle Arena restless. There, in ring center stood Andre Ward, gloves high, his eyes focused intently on his circling opponent, Alexander Brand, a tough, awkward, veteran light heavyweight from Colombia.Įven though Brand was a 10,000-to-1 betting underdog against the marvelously talented Ward, the first four rounds had passed without fireworks. The Genius was back at work Saturday night in Oakland, California.
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