Thaindian News

Andre Ward kept up his reputation and popularity as an Olympic Gold medalist in the middleweight category by defeating Edison Miranda by an impressive score of 119-109, 119-109, 116-112.

It was a tough competition, but at the end of it Ward proved why he is considered to be a formidable force inside the ring. Incidentally, the match started wrongly for this champion. He got an injury in the first round itself when he cut the top of his left eye due to a head butt from his opponent who started aggressively from the word go. However, the champion that he is, Ward used his extraordinary speed and swift movements to neutralize the opponent’s attacks from the very first. He then became offensive to get Miranda on the back foot. Ward changed his gaming tactics skillfully in the last two rounds by dancing out of the defeated and tired Miranda. His offense and occasional defensive tactics won him the match against Miranda.

After the match Ward said that he is ready to take on any player. In fact, when asked about his style, he answered that he is not sure what exactly his style is, but he takes each opponent individually without planning much before the game. He lets his style to be a surprise for his opponents until it is too late for them inside the ring! Experts claim that this match was his best among the unbeaten 19 matches that he played and won. The main reason being that from the onset he was playing with an injury that must have given Miranda confidence to win the initial rounds.

In this match and in his career, Ward had made his journey to the top slowly on the basis of his skills and passion for the ring. Nothing was handed to him on a platter. Perhaps his greatest opponents were the critics who claimed that he is too soft for the ring.