Olympian Andre Ward Finally Takes a Small Step Up
June 21, 2008 by Michael Sedor
Filed under MMA-UFC
On June 20, 1980 Montreal 1976 Olympic gold medalist Sugar Ray Leonard faced the greatest lightweight of all time Roberto Duran thus kicking off the golden age of middleweights, an era chronicled by George Kimball in his forthcoming book Four Kings. Duran outlasted Leonard in the Brawl in Montreal winning a narrow 15-round decision. Leonard, who had turned pro immediately after Games, was now 27-1 and had just lost the WBC welterweight belt.
On June 20, 2008 Athens 2004 Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward faced the serviceable Dominican fighter Jerson Ravelo winning with an 8th round TKO. Ward, who had turned pro immediately after the Games, is now 16-0, has no title, and is unranked in Ring Magazine’s list of the top 10 super middleweights.
Andre Ward was the only United States boxing gold medalist in 2004 and with that comes expectations and comparisons. His career is currently moving on a glacial pace. Is it indicative of a lack of ambition, a different more babying era of sport, a lack of talent, or poor promotion? Maybe all of the above. Ward looked average, sloppy, and undisciplined in defeating Ravelo. He needs to increase the quality of competition, the frequency of his bouts, and his learning curve if he is to live up to his possibilities.
Maybe comparing the light heavyweight medal winning Ward to the light welterweight winning Leonard is unfair. OK. In 1976 Leon Spinks won the light heavyweight gold medal. Less than two years after his Montreal win Spinks faced Muhammed Ali for the heavyweight championship of the world. Spinks shockingly defeated the “greatest of all time” and became the undisputed champ in only his eighth pro fight.
Ward’s eighth fight was a six round 2006 unanimous decision win against Kendall Gould. From 2004-06 Gould was 2-8.
Below is a youtube video of Ward’s KO of Jerson Ravelo:
Photo Source: Newscom.com
