Ward-Abraham: Win or Go Home in Carson

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA — The Super Six World Boxing Classic, boxing’s version of Survivor, enters its final stages tonight as tournament favorite Andre Ward defends his WBA Super Middleweight title against early tournament front-runner Arthur Abraham at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Fighters weighed in Thursday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Los Angeles International Airport in nearby Los Angeles.

Ward (23-0, 13 KOs) of Oakland, California may be just two wins away from breaking through into the superstar realm of the sport. Entering the tournament, few of boxing’s so-called experts gave Ward much chance to upset Mikkel Kessler, much less win the entire tournament outright, running the table in the process as he has done thus far. Some may be quick to point out that, due to some early fighter fallouts, Ward has only faced one of the original Super Six in his three bouts since the tournament began.

However, Abraham (32-2, 26 KOs) of Berlin, Germany by way of Yerevan, Armenia is not only one of the original tournament competitors, but entering the ground-breaking experiment, “King” Arthur was one of the co-favorites alongside Kessler. Abraham finds himself in a position he probably never envisioned. After putting Jermain Taylor’s career in doubt with a last minute stoppage, the former middleweight champion was completely outboxed by Andre Dirrell before he got himself disqualified in the eleventh. In his next outing, Abraham was again outboxed, this time even more one-sidedly by Carl Froch. Abraham, ultra-confident entering the tournament, was so down that his promoter arranged a confidence-building tune-up this past February in Germany. What Abraham gained from his second-round stoppage of an overmatched Stejepan Bozic remains to be seen.

Based on their recent body of work, Ward enters tonight’s contest an overwhelming favorite and the pick of many to win the entire tournament, regardless of who triumphs in the other semi-final between Froch and late tournament entry Glen Johnson. Abraham, who enters the bout the WBO #1/WBA #3 ranked super middleweight, has left some to question his viability as a 168-pound contender with his recent performances. Should Abraham pull of the upset tonight, his recent disappointments will be quickly forgotten. Ward scaled 168 Thursday, while Abraham came in at a fit 167-pounds.

Adding some ticket-buying incentive for the local fight fans, world class heavyweight Chris Arreola (30-2, 26 KOs) of Riverside, California will continue his rebuilding process in a ten-rounder against former upset artist Nagy Aguilera (16-5, 11 KOs) of Newburgh, New York.

Arreola, the WBC #3/IBF #5/WBO #12/WBA #15 ranked heavyweight, came in at a fit-and-trim 234, shocking many of his critics. Aguilera, whose name-making victory came over former champion Oleg Maskaev, came in at 238-pounds. A motivated Arreola figures to be a hard test for Aguilera to pass. Arreola, who has routinely showed up out of shape for much bigger fights, looks to be ready to make a statement and move on to bigger things once more.

Another local favorite looks to further endear himself to the Southern California faithful, as Shawn Estrada (11-0, 10 KOs) of East Los Angeles, California will take on Joseph Gardner (7-2-1, 1 KO) of Woonsocket, Rhode Island in a six-round super middleweight attraction. Estrada got his career back on track late last year and has looked impressive against a higher caliber of opponent in recent outings. Estrada, a 2008 U.S. Olympian, dominated once-beaten Jon Schmidt this past January and will look to do the same tonight against Gardner, who has only lost to quality opposition. Unfortunately any victory Estrada comes out with tonight will likely be diminished by the lack of professionalism he displayed by coming in well over the contracted weight Thursday. Estrada did not look to be in great condition as he scaled 174-pounds to Gardner’s 166-pounds.

Javier Molina (5-0, 4 KOs) of Norwalk, California signed a promotional agreement with Goossen Tutor Promotions at the same time his 2008 U.S. Olympic teammate Shawn Estrada did, but injuries have held Molina back at several instances in his brief career. Molina looks to accelerate his career path beginning tonight with a four-round welterweight bout against Danny Figueroa (3-1, 2 KOs) of Hastings, Minnesota. Should Molina, who scaled 148-pounds, come out unscathed, he is already scheduled to return to the ring May 27th in Reno, Nevada. Figueroa also came in at 148-pounds.

In an intriguing crossroads heavyweight clash, former world ranked contender Manuel Quezada (29-6, 18 KOs) of Wasco, California takes on untested hopeful Bowie Tupou (20-1, 15 KOs) in a ten-rounder. For tonight’s victor, big fights and big names could be right around the corner. Quezada, who is returning to the ring for the first time since a brave effort against Chris Arreola, came in at 233-pounds. Tupou, who has had a stop and start career to this point, came in at 245-pounds.

Rising bantamweight prospect Matt Villanueva (5-0, 5 KOs) of Van Nuys, California will take on young journeyman Frank Gutierrez (2-9-2, 1 KO) of Highland, California in a four-round bout. Villanueva, who has impressed his fair share of boxing pundits in his five outings, weighed in at 117-pounds Thursday. Gutierrez, who has never been matched in an easy fight, came in at the 118-pound bantamweight division limit.

Armen Ovsepyan (10-1, 8 KOs) of Yerevan, Armenia will take on longtime journeyman Arturo Brambila (9-14, 4 KOs) of Phoenix, Arizona by way of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico in a four-round light middleweight fight. Ovsepyan, who will likely have a large and supportive Armenian crowd on hand, came in at 147 ¾-pounds on Thursday. Brambila, in the familiar role of opponent once again, scaled 149 ½-pounds at the weigh-in.

Ty Barnett (18-1-1, 12 KOs) of Washington, DC will test Andrey Klimov (10-0, 5 KOs) of Van Nuys, California by way of Klimovsk, Moscow, Russia in a six-round light welterweight bout. Barnett, who not too long ago was a well-regarded prospect himself, is by far the toughest for Klimov has shared a ring with since turning professional. Klimov, trained by Joe Goossen, came in at 137-pounds. Barnett, came in at the lightweight limit of 135.

For the last few weeks it looked as though Sauerland Event-promoted Dominik Britsch (22-0, 7 KOs) of Neckarsulm, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany would be left without an opponent tonight. Among the opponents that fell out were journeyman Ryan Davis and former title challenger Billy Lyell. Stepping in last minute for the six-round encounter is Delray Raines (18-9-1, 13 KOs) of Paris, Arkansas. Britsch came in at 168, while Raines came in at 167-pounds.

Tickets for the event, promoted by Goossen Tutor Promotions, are available online at Ticketmaster.com.

Quick Weigh-in Results:

WBA Super Middleweight Championship, 12 Rounds
Ward 168
Abraham 167

Heavyweights, 10 Rounds
Arreola 234
Aguilera 238

Super Middleweights, 6 Rounds
Estrada 174
Gardner 166

Light Middleweights, 4 Rounds
Molina 148 ¼
Figueroa 148

Heavyweights, 10 Rounds
Quezada 233
Tupou 245

Super Flyweights, 4 Rounds
Villanueva 117
Gutierrez 118

Light Middleweights, 4 Rounds
Ovsepyan 147 ¾
Brambila 149 ½

Light Welterweight, 4 Rounds
Barnett 135
Klimov 137

Super Middleweights, 6 Rounds
Britsch 168
Raines 167

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected]