Andre “SOG” Ward returned to the ring for the first time in 14 months Saturday night on HBO, meeting undefeated challenger Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez.
La Bomba failed to make weight for the bout, a surprising turn of events for what was by far the biggest fight of his career, and certainly not a good sign. But how did the fight play out? Check out the Ward vs. Rodriguez results below.
Andre Ward dominated Edwin Rodriguez, pitching a shutout and winning every round against a game, but outclassed Rodriguez. La Bomba showcased a granite chin and an indomitable will, but Ward was just far too skilled, far too much of a master technician.
Official scorecards read 118-106, 117-107, 116-108 for Ward. ProBoxing-Fans.com scored the fight 118-106.
The fight started ugly, calling to mind the Klitschko vs. Povetkin fiasco, with repeated and extended fits of clinching and holding. Rodriguez tried to bull Ward around a bit, but Ward has never shied away from a rough inside fight.
Referee Jack Reiss took two points away from each fighter in Round 4, after a scrum in which he took a forearm to the head. Reiss made a huge scene, stopping the fight for about a minute, and telling the fighters he would disqualify them, and that they won’t get paid, and telling the ringside officials that he wanted to fine the fighters.
It was an overt approach, but it did serve to get the fight back on track a bit.
Ward beat Rodriguez to the punch all evening long with a strong, impactful left jab. He began throwing and landing lead left hooks, and he hurt Rodriguez on several occasions. He went to the body and slowed his man down, taking an aggressive, come-forward approach from Rodriguez and turning it into a plodding, following, playing out the clock approach. Ward only got better as the night went along, hurting Rodriguez on several occasions in the last few rounds.
In an absolutely dominant, one-sided performance, you would have thought that somebody in Rodriguez’s corner, or the referee or doctor, would have halted the contest. In the aftermath of the recent injury to Magomed Abdusalamov, shouldn’t we be protecting our fighters better?
Now, it’s a question of who’s next for Ward. The division has been so thoroughly cleaned, that the only option is a rematch with Carl Froch. At 175 lbs, there’s the eventual winner of the presumed Adonis Stevenson vs. Sergey Kovalev bout, and there’s the prospect of Gennady Golovkin moving up in weight in a major showdown, perhaps in 12-18 months.
Be sure to come back to ProBoxing-Fans.com later in the weekend for more post-fight coverage and aftermath, and thanks for checking out the Ward vs. Rodriguez results.
