2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Andre Ward (20-0, 13 KO’s) continued his winning ways with a third round TKO victory over Shelby Pudwill (22-4-1, 9 KO’s) on Saturday night at Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California.
The fight, which was televised on ShoBox: The New Generation, was a tune up fight for Ward, who is scheduled to face current WBA Super Middleweight Champion Mikkel Kessler on November 21st.
Ward was coming off a career best win over former world title challenger Edison Miranda (32-4, 28 KO’s). Pudwill could be labeled as a journeyman fighter. He already had three losses on his record including a first round TKO loss to John Duddy.
From the opening bell, it was clear that this fight would be a showcase for Ward. Ward used his fast hands to pound away at Pudwill for two rounds.
In the third round, Ward floored Pudwill with a left hook. Pudwill managed to get up, but he was cut under his left eye and Ward quickly put the pressure back on, forcing the referee to step in at 2:16 of the round.
The co-feature of the evening pitted James Toney (72-6-3, 44 KO’s) against Matthew Greer (12-6, 11 KO’s) in a scheduled ten round bout in the heavyweight division.
Toney came into the bout weighing 217.5 pounds, his lowest weight since defeating Evander Holyfield in 2003.
Toney used his fast hands and flashy defense to trouble the hard hitting Greer. In the second round, Toney floored Greer and then applied steady pressure until the referee stopped the fight at 2:33 of the round.
Also on the televised card was a replay of world champion, Mikkel Kessler’s fight with Gusmyr Perdomo. Kessler (42-1, 32 KO’s) stopped the game Perdomo in four rounds.
Perdomo now falls to 16-3 with 10 KO’s. Kessler came out unscathed as did Ward which means their fight looks good to go.
The Ward/Kessler matchup will take place at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California and will be part of the Showtime: Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament.
By MAZEN SARWAR
