In an example of perfect match-making, Andre Ward (29-0, 15 KOs) was able to beat the much slower made to order Sullivan Barrera (17-1, 12 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision tonight on HBO in his hometown at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. It was the perfect opponent for Ward to look good against because Barrera didn’t have the hand speed to give Ward a real test like Adonis Stevenson or one of the other far superior light heavyweights.
Ward won the fight by the scores 117-108, 117-109, and 118-109. Barrera fought well enough to deserve three rounds. He was knocked down in the 3rd by a left hand from Ward. Barrera was never hurt in the fight, as Ward didn’t have the power to ever bother him. The knockdown was a flash knockdown.
Ward says he’ll fight Sergey Kovalev.
Ward lost a point for a low blow in the 8th. It wasn’t a dirty fight like we’ve seen from some of Ward’s fights in the past. He did a fair amount of holding, but he didn’t try and wrestle with Barrera like he’d done in the Super Six tournament in the past. Barrera was too strong for Ward to wrestle and muscle. He didn’t have the size and strength advantage needed to muscle Barrera like he’d routinely done in the super middleweight division.
Barrera landed some nice shots in the fight. The thing that kept him from winning was his slow hand speed. He was just way too slow to get the better of Ward. He also had problem making contact with Ward, as he only connected with a low percentage of his shots. When Barrera would miss, Ward would frequently grab him in a clinch to keep him from throwing shots in close.
Ward was not the dominant fighter that he’d been in the past. The talking heads on HBO made it seem like it was an impressive performance from Ward. It wasn’t. He was barely winning rounds, and not looking like the fighter he’d been five years ago. This was not a schooling by any means.
It’s unclear whether Ward can get back to the level he was at five years ago. It’s probably not realistic to think that he can get back to what he was in the past. He’s fighting in a different division, and he doesn’t have the natural size or strength to dominate like he was in the past.
Besides that, Ward has missed too many years in his career, and he’s just not going to be able to get back to the level he was at. It’s like any sport. If you miss five years of your career, you’re not going to be able to get back to the level you were at previously.
The way Ward looked tonight, I think he’d be easy work for Sergey Kovalev and some of the other high caliber light heavyweights in the division. Barrera was made to order for Ward. Kovalev will be much different and I can’t see Ward winning the fight, even if it’s staged in Oakland. Kovalev won’t play that. He’s obviously not going to want to go to Oakland for the Ward fight.
