Surprise! – It’s Andre Ward on HBO
by
Buster Paris
12/19 - I’m not sure if it’s just me, but I didn’t know that Andre Ward was fighting his debut fight on Saturday, December 18th, 2004. I don’t know if I’ve been too busy with work or with holiday shopping or what, but I had no clue.
Saturday night, HBO boxing, popcorn popped and cream soda a plenty. I’m tuning in to watch two unknown fighters fight live followed by the replay of Klitschko and Williams, then the main event Tarver and Johnson.
I am completely surprised, thrilled and excited to see that one of the unknown’s turns out to be Andre Ward and now I’m energized to see him fight.
As my Aunt has started to visit TalkingBoxing.com and is just beginning her look at the sweet science let me quickly explain who Andre Ward is and why I’m excited.
Andre Ward was on the 2004 US Olympic boxing team and is the Light Heavy Weight gold medal winner. There was tremendous buzz about him leading up to Athens and lots of speculation about his future in the prize ring. Basically he’s a really good boxer with a very promising future.
The biggest compliment I’ve heard regarding him was from Roy Jones Jr. who said that Andre reminds him of himself. Watching Ward I can see that.
He is 20 years old. Has gone down in weight to make his professional debut as a Super Middleweight and if things go well for him he has the potential to earn a lot of belts in a lot of weight classes.
Now is his professional debut, where all the talk and pontificating gets put to the test.
Here’s what I’m always fascinated with. The switch from the amateurs to the pros. He’ll be fighting four 3 minute rounds. He’ll be wearing no headgear, his gloves will be lighter and he’ll be wearing no shirt. I’ve always wondered what that moment would be like. Standing in your corner, heart pumping, your first professional fight and you’re not wearing the headgear that you’ve become accustomed to, have security in and have worn your entire boxing life. I imagine that it’s an incredibly sobering moment.
As the bout is getting set to start I’m looking over his opponent, Chris “Rocky” Molina. Lots of tattoos and a feral look in his eyes. I’m finding him pretty scary and as if on cue Larry Merchant in an ominous voice mentions his jail time. I’m scared of this guy and I’m sitting on a somewhat comfy chair.
Here we go, round 1:
It’s a brawl within 30 seconds. You can feel Ward’s excitement and energy. A beautiful left gets placed in the face of Molina. Andre snaps out another jab and in a backward slide worthy of Tom Cruise in Risky Business he is well out of Chris’s range.
I’m impressed with Ward’s ringmanship. I’m impressed with his aggressiveness and I’m really impressed with his first round knock down.
Chris Molina looks tired, sloppy and just outclassed. Round 1 ends and he’s on his stool saying how his legs are tired, but he’ll go on. Psyching himself up.
At this point the only surprise about Ward’s 2nd round TKO is that it happened so quickly in the round.
This was a great debut for Andrea Ward. I’m thrilled that I got to witness his first professional fight. I’m looking forward to watching the rounds increase from 4 on up to 12. I’m looking forward to watching his expedition through the different weight classes and gobbling up belts. I’m looking forward to seeing him on the cover of Ring Magazine and seeing other articles here and hearing Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant praise and contemplate his future.
I’ll always know that I was a witness to the beginning, that I recorded it and that my Aunt a new observer to boxing will be a huge Andre Ward fan and have me to thank.
Congratulations Andre on your first win.
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