Andre Ward, showing little rust, dominates, then stops Paul Smith
Andre Ward, returning to the ring for the first time in 19 months Saturday, fought like he'd never been away, absolutely dominating England's Paul Smith before stopping him in the ninth round at Oracle Arena in Ward's hometown of Oakland, Calif.
Smith's corner threw in the towel and the fight was stopped at 1:46 of the ninth round as the partisan crowd of 9,016 roared its approval.
Ward, who remains undefeated (28-0, 15 KOs), used a powerful left jab and quick combinations to connect at will throughout the fight. He showed little ring rust from his more than one year and a half away from the sport, during which time he was embroiled in a court battle with his old promoter, the late Dan Goossen. Ward now fights for Roc Nation Sports and the bout was televised by BET network.
Ward landed 231 of 586 punches, while Smith connected on 47 of 266, according to CompuBox.
Ward, 31, wasted little time asserting his dominance, hurting Smith early with his jabs, and opening a cut over Smith's eye during the early rounds. By the end of the fight, Smith's face was a bloody mess.
Smith, who fell to 35-6 with the loss, weighed in more than four pounds over the 172-pound catch weight on Friday and was fined 20% of his purse.
Despite his long absence, Ward is still the WBA Super super middleweight titlist, but his belt was not up for grabs in this fight.
"It took some time to get the rust out," Ward said. "I started strong with the jab. I really wanted to come out with a big bang. I have a great coach (Virgil Hunter) and he told me take your time and the knockout will come. I could see his legs getting a little wobbly."
Smith's trainer Joe Gallagher threw in the towel. Smith said he thought he broke his nose in that final round.
"Smith was taking unnecessary punishment," Gallagher said. "Andre kept cutting open that cut over his eye. Blood was pooling over his eye. It was a war we didn't want to continue."
Ward had not fought since winning a lopsided unanimous decision against Edwin Rodriguez to defend his WBA super middleweight title in November 2013. The fight was just Ward's second since beating Carl Froch in December 2011 in the Super Six super middleweight tournament final. Ward also dealt with a shoulder injury that forced him to the sideline before the legal dispute.
NBA MVP Stephen Curry carried Ward's title belt into the ring before the fight. Curry got a thunderous ovation one day after the Golden State Warriors' championship parade.
Contributing: Associated Press