Sports In the Bay
Photos by Felicia D. McDaniel and
Miguel Blair
The 10,000-plus strong at ORACLE Arena were beginning to get antsy, after all they had been waiting nearly 30-minutes for the guy who calls himself “Son of God.”
Once the lights went out, all that had been erased and the chants of “USA” and “Let’s Go Oakland” bellowed throughout the Arena in favor of their hometown hero, boxer Andre “Son of God” Ward.
A native of Oakland and San Francisco, it would be the biggest fight of the 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist’s career in a nationally televised 12-round Showtime bout versus reigning WBA Super Middleweight champion, Dutchman Mikkel Kessler.
It would also be the official kick-off for the Super Six World Boxing Classic, a tournament consisting of six-fighters, three Americans and three Europeans.
The David and Goliath-like script of Ward and Kessler couldn’t be more movie-like. The hometown hero and underdog returns home to fight in front of his home crowd and slay the sturdy veteran.
Tale of the tape showed Kessler and Ward evenly matched prior to Saturday, the only vast difference being their ages, Kessler (42-2; 32 KO’s) 30 and Ward (21-0; 13 KO’s) 25-years.
However, wisdom and age would mean nothing on this night as Ward came out of his corner skillfully wearing Kessler down with body blows and jabs.
The fight would be stopped midway through the 11th due to a gash Kessler sustained in the previous round above his left eye.
Hands down the Oscar goes to Ward for his role as David.
In his press conference afterwards Ward received a proclamation from the City of San Francisco with Mayor Newsom officially proclaiming November 21st as Andre Ward Day.
“I want to send a message to kids and the adults here that nothing is impossible with God on your side,” said the devout Christian whose robe displayed the words “Jesus Christ is King” on the back.
Although the name Andre Ward is not as commonly used as it should be in fight circles, Ward is confident Saturday’s turnout sends a strong message.
“To see the crowd tonight, it was just unbelievable. People said I couldn’t draw, that boxing was dead in Oakland but they have to think twice now. Boxing is definitely on the map in Oakland.”
