OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -With a stunning victory in his hometown, Andre Ward proved he's ready for the world.
Ward claimed the WBA 168-pound title with an unanimous technical decision over Denmark's Mikkel Kessler in the 11th round Saturday night, adding his first world championship belt to his Olympic gold medal.
Ward (21-0, 13 KOs) announced his arrival among the world's elite boxers with a dynamic thrashing of Kessler (42-2). The WBA super middleweight champion for most of the past five years was the early favorite to win the Super Six tournament, but Ward soared on a wave of support from his frenzied Bay Area crowd.
``Right now, I'm dreaming,'' Ward said after celebrating in the thick of a massive Oakland party with his trainer, Virgil Hunter. ``I don't know what I'm feeling. I can't compare this to winning the gold medal, because it's going to take a while for it all to sink in. ... Everyone said we got the bad draw, but we just beat the toughest guy.''
In both fighters' debut bout in the Super Six tournament, Ward's speed, discipline and work rate gradually reduced Kessler's face to a bloody mess - although the longtime champion felt Ward also took liberties with elbows and head-butts. The ringside physician stopped the fight midway through the 11th round after looking at a growing cut on Kessler's face caused by a clash of heads.
``He was the better man tonight, but I would have liked the fight to go another minute,'' Kessler said. ``I knew I could have continued. I was cut, but the cuts weren't that bad. He threw a lot of elbows, and there were a lot of head butts, and he never got any warnings. ... I don't want to sit here and complain all the time, but I wasn't happy with the referee.''
A fight is decided on the scorecards in a technical decision. Sweden's Mikael Hook favored Ward 97-93, while South Africa's Stanley Christodoulou and California's Steve Morrow both scored it 98-92 for Ward. The Associated Press also had it for Ward 97-93.
A raucous crowd of 10,277 packed the lower bowl of Oracle Arena for Oakland's first world title fight since October 1967, and Ward didn't disappoint - although he ended the fight with noticeable unease in his eyes after the medical stoppage.
The decision's announcement set off a party for the fighter and Hunter, the trainer and mentor who shepherded Ward's rise from Oakland's mean streets to the biggest victory of his ascendant career.
``They've minimized him for his whole career, but we're glad that they did,'' Hunter said. ``The way Andre does things, the strategy he uses and the skills he possesses, he never gets credit. Hopefully this will do something about that.''
Or perhaps not. Kessler's camp was upset even before the fight about the selection of California-based referee Jack Reiss, asking for an official from a ``neutral territory,'' as mandated in the Super Six contracts. After the fight, Kessler and his camp criticized Reiss for allowing too much holding and inside fighting, leading to head clashes.
``Without taking anything away from his win, the referee helped him from the first minute,'' said Wilfried Sauerland, Kessler's promoter. ``He used his head, he used his elbow, and he didn't even get a warning, he didn't get a caution. I think that was a bit much.''
Kessler had won his last three fights since his only loss to Joe Calzaghe in 2007, briefly relinquishing the WBA title he has held since 2004. The Viking Warrior was the favorite in the tournament matching six of the world's top 168-pound fighters, and he was confident enough to fight stateside for just the second time in his career.
But Ward hasn't lost a fight since early in his amateur career more than 10 years ago. He rolled through the Athens Olympics in 2004, including a stunning quarterfinal victory over Russian world champion Evgeny Makarenko - the last fight in which he faced such long odds.
``I felt like it was my time,'' Ward said. ``I was not intimidated by Kessler's record. I was surprised that Kessler didn't change up (his style) at all. He kept doing the same thing over and over. ... There were two accidental head butts. I'm not a dirty fighter, everybody knows that.''
Ward turned the fight in the fourth round during a clinch that included a clash of heads and ended with an uppercut that rocked the more aggressive Kessler, who had a cut on his face after the exchange. Ward then took charge, repeatedly landing combinations and sneaky shots to chants of ``Let's go, Andre!''
Ward was much busier than Kessler, also opening a cut above the Dane's left eye in the middle rounds. Kessler's relative inexperience against a busier style showed through, and he began backpedaling in almost every minute of every round, with Ward landing enough punches to hurt him repeatedly.
Another clash of heads occurred in the eighth round, apparently opening the cut that eventually stopped the fight.
After a convincing victory over Edison Miranda in May, Ward made the Super Six field along with fellow Americans Andre Dirrell and Jermain Taylor, who both lost their first bouts to Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham, respectively. After each boxer has three group-stage fights, the top four will advance to the tournament semifinals - which means Ward and Kessler very well could meet again within two years.
``I think this will make the tournament more exciting,'' Kessler said. ``I don't want to be the favorite.''
