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Andre Ward Outguns Kessler

Round 1 –

Ward  repeatedly switched from orthodox to southpaw and circled his Kessler. Ward landed a nice straight left hand to punctuate the round.

Round 2 Kessler paces Ward and connects with a good left hand to the body. The goal of Kessler is to slow the American down and Ward found himself against the ropes a few times. In the last ten seconds of the round, Ward hit Kessler with the best punch of the fight so far, a beautiful straight right hand. Ward 2-0

Round 3 – Kessler’s right eye looks a bit swollen. Ward’s fighting great on the inside. He is making Kessler feel uncomfortable with plenty of movement.

Round 4- Ward is taking over this fight. Kessler’s eye is bleeding underneath near his cheekbone. Another Ward right hand backs up Kessler. 4-0 Ward so far.

Round 5 – This is a better round for Kessler. To his credit, he continues to stalk Ward around the ring. 4-1 Ward.

Round 6 – Ward lands a pretty left uppercut. The fight has settled down a little bit and turned into a chess match. Kessler connects with a nice one two combo and Ward returns fire. It is a real fight. It is a toss up round. But I’ll give it to Ward. 5-1 Ward

Round 7 – No adjustments for Kessler. It is the same thing that hurt him in the Calzaghe fight. At this point it is clear that Ward is picking him apart. 6-1 Ward

Round 8 – Ward continues to get off first in the first two minutes. Kessler’s left eye is cut. But his corner is doing a good job sustaining it. Kessler lands his best punch of the fight, a left hook to the face. 6-2 Ward

Round 9 – It is much of the same but Kessler is hanging in there. He landed a few good punches in the round. 6-3 Ward

Round 10 – Kessler continues to keep the pressure on Ward backs him into the ropes in the last minute. A head butt stops the action but the ref did not take a point from either fighter. The crowd happily cheers for every punch the hometown hero connects with. And he is not disappointing. Ward is pulling away with this one. 7-3 Ward.

Round 11 -  Ward continues to go to work. He hits Kessler with another right hand that backs him up. The referee stops the action and the fight goes to the scorecards.

97-93, 98-92, 98-92 all in favor of Andre Ward.

Andre Ward is awarded the WBA Super Middleweight Title.