Early on fans were mistakenly encouraged, because Abraham was actually moving forward in a fashion that mildly suggested aggression. The hope was the “King” would build on that and make things interesting. The key, though, was he wasn’t landing anything. By the end of the first round, the King was already in retreat.
In the second round, the action started to resemble more of a brawl. The “King” tried a few wild punches, but would over shoot the mark by a big margin. Ward would pull a little football move, and duck down and drive forward with his head and left shoulder. Ward controlled the action. In the third round, Abraham did manage to land a hard jab and a clubbing right, but he caught a hard shoulder to the midsection once again..
Already by the fourth round, Abraham stopped punching. Unfortuantely, he does not know how to slip punches and counter. All he can do is play a tight peek-a-boo game that forces him to stay covered until his opponent stops punches. Once Ward tested the waters with a few unanswered combinations, he licked his chops, and knew he was going to enjoy the night. Abraham never wised up to Wards “shoulder” move, so on those few occasions when he would attempt to lead with a two punch combination, he would go over the top and then get driven back by Ward’s shoulder. By the end of the round, Ward landed several multi-punch combinations. The “King” just didn’t know how to deal with Ward’s speed and movement.
In the fifth round, Ward increased his level of control over Abraham. Both fighters got a brief warning from referee Pabon for “rough housing”, (some legal, some not) which was mainly exhibited by Ward, who managed to even get a shot in at the break. In the sixth round, Abraham unleased his first real flurry of punches, all of which went to the body, and all of which were ineffective. After seeing the effort, most trainers would have pulled Abraham aside to tell him that that is not the way to punch. They would tell him his punches were all arm punches, and that he would need to straighten them out. The only reason Abraham has gotten away with his poor technique for so long is due to his tremendous strength, but that is not enough when fighting at an elite level. It’s no surprise to find out that you have to have proper technique as well.
Half of the seventh round past before Abraham even threw one punch! During the last minute he did let go with another ineffective flurry. Judges could have scored the round 10-8 for how one-sided it was. Abraham must have realized how pathetic his effort was in the seventh, because in the eighth he did attempt to land a few wild, looping punches, but Ward easily avoided them.
The ninth was more of the same, mostly Ward, and on those few occasions when Abrahm would attempt something, he would smother his own efforts, but being so wild and over shooting his target. In the meantime, Ward kept throwing fast, sharp combinations. He mixed them up well, first going to the body, then the head, and vice versa. Abraham’s facial expression showed his frustration and disappointment. Ward continued to work over Abraham in the tenth and eleventh; although, Abraham did manage one counter, a right over Ward’s jab, but the punch didn’t bother Ward at all. In the twelfth and final round, Abraham managed a couple of hard lefts, but they were too little too late. Ward was still controlling the action and winning yet another round. One judge scored the fight a shutout, and the other two gave Abraham a couple of the early rounds. But, all in all, there were no surprises. Ward won easily.