16.5.09

Ward v. Miranda: Round by Round

Miranda, the challenger, comes to the ring first.  Ward, the hometown favorite, now comes to the ring.  The crowd is really cheering him on.  It doesn't sound like there is one Edison Miranda fan in attendance tonight.

Round 1
Ward starts off first and throws his jab.  Miranda is looking cautious and he looks to be on the defensive.  The ref separates the fighters.  There is a cut on the forehead of Ward from an accidental headbutt.  Miranda lands a right hand.  Ward goes to the body.  The cut on Ward's face looks bad.  It has to be pouring into his eye.  Ward keeps coming forward and has landed some great power-left hands.  

Spartan117: 10-9 Ward

Round 2
Ward's corner man says that the cut is small and it can be stopped easily.  Miranda goes on the offensive now and throws combos to the head.  Miranda lands 2 right hands.  Neither fighter is showing great defense.  The cut opens up again over the eye of Ward.  Miranda lands a low blow but it goes unnoticed to the ref.  Miranda loads up the right hand.  Both fighters are trading power shots.  Miranda is landing the better shots.  Very entertaining round.

Spartan117: 10-9 Miranda

Round 3
Ward goes back to work with his jab.  Miranda throws his jab too and also lands a left hook.  There's not much upper body movement from Miranda.  Miranda gets warned for using his head.  Miranda is throwing nothing but power punches after a single jab.  Ward switches back to southpaw after standing in orthodox momentarily.  Ward has been dodging Miranda's punches well.  Ward lands a combo to the head and body.  Miranda waves him in.  Ward lands a great left hand right before the bell.

Spartan117: 10-9 Ward

Round 4
Miranda comes forward with his jab.  Ward backpedals.  Miranda goes to work to the body.  Miranda lands a big right hand.  Ward gets caught in the corner and Miranda closes in.  Ward lands 2 punches to the body.  Ward throws a great combo upstairs and Miranda answers with nothing.  Ward's left hand is being kept well below his waist.  Ward lands a huge left hand to the body.  He takes it well.  Now Ward keeps both of hands low, taunting Miranda.  Another good round for Ward.

Spartan117: 10-9 Ward

Round 5
Ward starts out with a hard left hand.  Miranda is taking a good bit of punishment but he is taking it well.  Miranda is throwing nothing but jabs and straights, looking very 1-dimensional.  Ward's work rate is great and is winning him this rounds.  Miranda is getting rocked now.  The crowd is on their feet.  Miranda stumbles.  His legs don't look like they are under him yet.  Ward lets him off the hook by not throwing much.  Ward's hands are at his sides again.  Miranda takes more punishment against the ropes but beats his chest at the bell.  

Spartan117: 10-9 Ward

Round 6
Miranda comes forward and throws a few lunging jabs.  He's clearly looking to land a big shot.  Miranda is throwing more in this round.  Ward is dodging his punches quite well.  Miranda lands a nice counterpunch to the head.  Ward takes it well.  They trade punches in close quarters.  Ward is landing the better shots.  Miranda wiffs with a wild right hand.  Ward counters well with a left.  Miranda lands 2 great right hands in the last minute.  There's some swelling on the left eye of Ward.  A better round for Miranda but I still give it to Ward.

Spartan117: 10-9 Ward

Round 7
Miranda lands another big right hand to start the round.  Ward lands a wide left hand.  Miranda comes forward, throwing his right hand but Ward is able to dodge well.  Ward misses another wide hand.  Miranda lowers his work rate again and Ward lets him have it.  He lands 2 beautiful left hooks.  Miranda is stalking Ward around the ring with his right hand cocked but never throws.  Ward wins another one.

Spartan117: 10-9 Ward

Round 8
Miranda measures with the right hand again.  They trade punches on the inside again.  Neither fighter is landing any meaningful shots.  Ward lands a big left hook.  Again, they trade punches on the inside with Miranda in the corner.  They haven't moved in the last minute.  They just keep swinging away while on the inside.  It's hard to tell who's landing the better punches.  Miranda goes back to looking for the knockout punch.  Ward can see it coming and dodges every time.

Spartan117: 10-9 Ward

Round 9
Miranda stalks Ward again with his right hand.  Ward unleashes a combo to the head of Miranda.  Ward is bullying Miranda on the inside.  Miranda finally gets a right hand in.  Miranda lands a right uppercut.  Ward drills him with another left hand.  Ward lands the best combo of the night.  Miranda looks beaten and tired.  Ward lands another great combo.  Miranda tries to land another power punch before the bell but misses.

Spartan117: 10-9 Ward

Round 10
Ward smells blood and comes out swinging.  Miranda gets desperate and comes out doing the same thing.  Wards lands a fantastic left hand but Miranda walks through it.  Ward lands a left-right combo.  Miranda throws a big overhand right and misses as usual.  Ward lands another power punch with ease.  Ward gets a straight left hand through the gloves of Miranda.  Miranda keeps coming forward.  Ward goes down but it's clearly from a slip.  Miranda can't handle Ward's lateral movement.

Spartan117: 10-9 Ward

Round 11
Ward comes out in the southpaw stance which he has had great success.  Ward gets a combo through the gloves of Miranda.  Ward lands another left hand.  And now another left hand.  Miranda looks horrible and is getting embarrassed tonight.  Ward can see Miranda's right hand coming from a mile away.  Ward lands a couple of jabs.  Ward wins yet another round.

Spartan117: 10-9 Ward

Round 12
Miranda sees the urgency and comes out swinging.  Ward is dodging and countering very well.  Ward swings away and lands 2 great combos to Miranda's head.  Miranda comes forward hard but Ward is using great movement and defense.  Ward winds up his left hand.  Miranda gets embarrassed and becomes the new Ricardo Mayorga.

Spartan117: 10-9 Ward

The judges score the bout 119-109, 119-109 and 116-112 all for the winner by unanimous decision Andre Ward.

Spartan117: 119-109 Ward

Ward says that he wasn't too pleased with his performance and he would have liked to stop Miranda and he needs to go back to watch the tape.  He says he's ready to be the mandatory for Carl Froch.  

9 comments:

Jayson Deuna said...

Thanks for the coverage guys. I've been here more than a year already. Primarily because we haven't upgraded to faster internet connection.

I'm rooting for Andre Ward, I hope the cut won't affect his performance too much.

spartan117 said...

Hey Jayson, thanks for the comment. Ward looked spectacular. If he keeps improving, he will be great in the future. He'll be a good opponent for Froch.

Nick Tylwalk said...

I'm confident Ward has more boxing skills than Froch. But does he have enough power to keep Froch honest?

Jayson Deuna said...

Thanks again guys! Great job. The 116-112 score is funny, very funny. How come?

Anyways, thanks again and good luck to all you guys at BoxingWatchers.com.

uatu said...

It sounds like Ward totally outclassed Miranda. I always thought he had more skills and talent, but it sounds like he traded more than I thought he would. Here's to more Ward in the future. He may see himself as too far along and too high profile to match up with Dirrell anytime soon.

Nick Tylwalk said...

I still think the two Andre's may end up as rivals down the road. I could see Ward capturing one of the belts and Dirrell becoming a top challenger for it before too long.

uatu said...

In my opinion Ward would beat Froch for what it's worth, and I believe he would give both Bute and Andrade a good fight and would win those too.

miamicool said...

If you can't outbox your opponent hook and hjold--

That for me summed up Ward's strategy. I thought they called the hook and hold tactic dirty boxing. But the ref never tooka point away though he repeatedly warned Ward for holding.

I suppose some will say, "Well isn't afraid to fight dirty." He isn't but this is why his performance is nothing to be proud of.

I would like to see a rematch with a ref who will do for Miranda what the ref in the Hatton-Mayweather fight did for Mayweather - make it a true boxing match. Then we will see who is the best.

uatu said...

interesting. when I watch the replay I will keep the holding in mind when I draw an opinion on the fight and Ward