Ward decisions Rodriguez in rough, ugly contest

It started at yesterday’s weigh-in when Edwin Rodriguez failed to make weight for his WBA Super Middleweight clash with Andre Ward. Then he and Ward engaged in an ugly fight that saw Ward easily score a twelve round unanimous decision ast the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California.

The fight started out with Rodriguez running across the ring and trying to bully Ward. Ward would have nine of that as he started drilling Rodriguez with pinpoint shots with both hands. Ward was dominating the fight with both hands and featured a hard power jab. In round four, the fight turned ugly as inordinate amount of clutching and grabbing by both men forced referee Jack Reiss to not only pause the bout but take two points away from each man, warn them and suggest that the commission fine both fighters. Reiss also intimated that he was hit by a stray punch.

“We had two highly trained athletes full of adrenalin and emotion,” the veteran referee observed. “I deducted two points from each of them and warned them that the deduction of another point would result in a disqualification. That was done with the intent to produce an exciting, competitive fight all the way to its conclusion. And it did.”

That admonishment seemed to work as the bout picked up a better flow but unfortunately for Rodriguez it was all Ward as he continued to rock Rodriguez with body shots, hard jabs and even an uppercut that hurt Rodriguez in round eleven.

Despite being off 14 months for shoulder surgery, Ward solidified his status among the pound for pound elite bu pounding out the decision by scores of 118-106, 117-107 and 116-108 to raise his perfect mark to 27-0. Rodrigiez or Worcester, MA is now 24-1.

“We knew he would come out and try and bull me,” said Ward, who showed no ill effects from his inactivity following surgery to his right shoulder.

“Instead of trying to win rounds he was looking to land one big shot. He wanted to make it ugly and hope he could land something big. Jack Reiss did a tremendous job keeping the action going.”

“He was putting his head down a little too much,” a frustrated Rodriguez pointed out. “Andre Ward is very tricky, but does not have a lot of power in his right hand. I am just disappointed in my performance. The weight had nothing to do with it. He’s a good fighter. What can I say?”