OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Andre Ward made a triumphant return to the ring after a lengthy absence, delighting his home crowd by stopping England’s Paul Smith in the ninth round Saturday night in a nontitle fight.
Ward (28-0) was fighting for the first time in 19 months because of a protracted legal dispute with his former promoter, the late Dan Goosen.
He dominated from the start against the former British champion Smith (35-6), whose corner threw the white towel to stop the fight in the ninth round with Smith’s face covered with blood.
Smith spent most of the fight in defensive mode, trying to block Ward’s many punches instead of throwing many of his own. Smith did stagger Ward with a big right hand in the seventh, but Ward responded with a flurry and Smith was cut late in the round.
Ward landed more big punches in the eighth as blood started dripping down the left side of Smith’s face. The round ended with a stare down between the two fighters to the delight of the partisan crowd of 9,016.
“It took some time to get the rust out,” Ward said. “I started strong with the jab. I really wanted to come out with a big bang. I have a great coach and he told me take your time and the knockout will come. I could see his legs getting a little wobbly.”
Another cut opened in the ninth as Smith’s face was covered with blood before the fight was called at 1:46 of the round on a technical knockout after trainer Joe Gallagher threw in the towel. Smith said he thought he broke his nose in that final round.
“Smith was taking unnecessary punishment,” Gallagher said. “Andre kept cutting open that cut over his eye. Blood was pooling over his eye. It was a war we didn’t want to continue.”
Ward had not fought since winning a lopsided unanimous decision against Edwin Rodriguez to defend his WBA super middleweight title in November 2013. The absence from the ring stemmed from the dispute with Goosen, who died in September 2014.
The fight was just Ward’s second since beating Carl Froch in December 2011 in the Super Six super middleweight tournament final. Ward also dealt with a shoulder injury that forced him to the sideline before the dispute with Goosen.
After Goosen’s death, Ward reached an undisclosed settlement with the promoter’s family and signed with Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports. He was using the fight against Smith as a tuneup to work off some of the rust that had accumulated.
Smith weighed in for the 172-pound fight at 176.4 pounds on Friday. ESPN reported Smith’s weight was 184.4 pounds at a second weigh-in Saturday and that he forfeited $60,000 of his $225,000 purse. Ward made $2 million plus $37,500 of the fine money, with the rest going to the California State Athletic Commission, according to ESPN.
This was Smith’s third straight fight where he had to deal with a hostile crowd. Smith lost his previous fights in Germany for the 168-pound title against German Arthur Abraham.
The bout brought out some big names, including NBA MVP Stephen Curry, who carried Ward’s title belt into the ring before the fight. Curry got a thunderous ovation a day after the Golden State Warriors’ championship parade. Seattle running back and Oakland native Marshawn Lynch, boxer Miguel Cotto and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick also were on hand, although Kaepernick was booed loudly by the East Bay fans who usually back the Raiders.
The co-feature between junior featherweights Antonio Nieves (12-0-1) and Stephon Young (13-0-2) ended in a split draw.
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