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2000 Olympic Gold Medallist Andre Ward made yet another homecoming Thursday night, squaring off with late replacement Julio Jean in a 168 lb contest. Ward, who last fought in November, was the main draw for the 4,124 packed in the HP Pavilion in downtown San Jose.
Fighting for the third time in San Jose, Ward once again garnered all the Bay Area media attention for the entire week leading up to the card and was center stage Thursday night.
With the fans out in droves, just 30 minutes from his training headquarters at King’s Gym in Oakland, Ward looked to make a statement against the Haitian born journeyman.
While it was a statement he looked for, Ward’s night started out shaky. Right from the opening bell, the stocky Jean charged out of the gate with his head down, swinging wildly at Ward from the outside.
Ward caught most on the gloves but Jean landed perhaps his beat blow of the night just 10 seconds in, a head butt to the jaw of Ward. Frustrated, Ward moved outside and stuck behind the jab for the entire round, playing the role of matador to the charging and free swinging Jean.
The second stanza started out much like the first, with the first significant happening of the round being a Jean head butt. This time however, blood was drawn from high on the right cheek of Ward. Visibly upset, Ward turned up the heat on the already fading Jean.
Ward began opening up early in the second with the lead left hook, slamming home to the jaw of Jean and visibly hurting him for the first time about 30 seconds in.
After sticking behind the jab and circling for the most part of the first round, Ward began to put what is perhaps his best punch behind the jab in the second, the straight right hand.
Ward’s best sequence of the round came with just 30 seconds left, when he trapped Jean on the ropes and landed five consecutive straight right hands to the jaw of Jean.
With blood running down his cheek and his eyebrows furrowed, Ward looked to be showing the mean streak that so many fans and pundits alike have wanted to see from him.
Despite the barrage of punches towards the end, a tired and almost beaten Jean managed to survive to the end of the round. Jean, who stretched Irish middleweight prospect John Duddy to 10 rounds in early 2006, tied up at the bell to see the third.
Despite the crowd pleasing end to the second, Ward took on a more methodical approach to start the third round. Once again working behind the jab with the right hand, the Gold Medallist abused Jean with pinpoint accuracy on each and every straight right hand.
Seemingly exhausted, Jean once again fell back on the ropes and amidst slow chants of “Andre” from the raucous crowd, Ward once again quickened the pace and landed at will with left hooks and straight right hands while Jean remained inactive on the ropes.
After almost 20 unanswered punches, the referee jumped in and stopped the fight at the 2:04 mark. Andre Ward improved to 11-0, scoring his sixth knockout in what was his first fight at 168 lbs. Meanwhile, Jean suffers his sixth straight loss and drops to a lowly 7-11-1.
While Ward was the special attraction and the main draw, Salinas, California native Jesus “Chuy” Rodriguez, 13-2 (5), dueled with late replacement Carlos de la Cruz, 10-6 (10). Rodriguez, the hometown favorite, faced a much taller opponent in Cruz.
Still, despite the dramatic height differential, Rodriguez had his mind set on staying outside and winning the fight with his jab. But this task seemed difficult in the first round as de la Cruz was active with his own jab, staying at range and timing his right hand to land over the top.
Rodriguez only success in the round came from a stiff jab at the closing of the round to the nose of the wiry de la Cruz, drawing heavy blood from Cruz.
After a solid first round, Cruz fell into a spell of inactivity in the second round, allowing Rodriguez to strike first with the jab and the right hand to follow. This continued through the sixth round, Rodriguez continued to stalk and beat de la Cruz to the punch in what was mostly a jabbing contest.
While Rodriguez, for the most part, threw his jab first and doubled up on it, de la Cruz threw his late and one at a time. Rodriguez racked up round after round on the power of his left jab and occasional right hand follow.
By the seventh round, well ahead on the scorecards, Rodriguez looked to end it early. Breaking the routine of jabbing and following with rights, “Chuy” scored big with a lead left hook that sent de la Cruz stumbling backwards into the ropes.
Seeking a possible stoppage, Rodriguez pounced forward with 30 seconds left and connected flush several times with combinations of hooks and straight punches. Wary of punching himself tired, Rodriguez pulled out and let de la Cruz continue on his feet.
From then on, it was once again a contest a jabs. With the right side of Cruz’ face visibly bruised and beat up by the stiff jabs of Rodriguez, Cruz continued to think defensively and stay relatively inactive throughout the rest of the fight.
When was all said and done, Rodriguez earned a unanimous decision, with the scorecards reading 100-90, 100-90 and 99-91. Jesus “Chuy” Rodriguez improved to 14-2 (5) and extended his winning streak to 6 fights. Carlos de la Cruz dropped to 10-7 (10) with the loss.
In what was the evening’s most action packed match up, Freddie Roach’s 129 lb protege Shadi Hamsho, 8-0 (1) ended his eight month spell of inactivity with a unanimous decision win over previously unbeaten Carlos Musquez, 3-0-1 (3).
Musquez, 5’7, was able to slip the jab of the much taller Hamsho, 5’11, and get inside unleashing short hooks to the body of Hamsho. Hamsho though remained calm and rallied at the end of the round, finding range on the outside and landing a big uppercut at the closing bell.
Hamsho remained the aggressor throughout the proceedings and was the much more active of the two, scoring inside and out with both hands, utilizing the right uppercut on the shorter Musquez.
Still, Musquez was unrelenting and made a continued effort to the body of Hamsho up until the final bell. But the more active and accurate fighter prevailed as Hamsho won unanimously by way of the cards.
The Goosen-Tutor promoted card’s cruiserweight feature was a scheduled four round contest between Israel Spencer, 2-0, and Paul Vasquez, 5-1-1. The fight however, ended much more quickly.
In their very first exchange, Vazquez caught Spencer with a short right hand that floored Spencer. Slow to get up with shifty eyes and wobbly legs, the match was called off with Vazquez earning the KO victory.
In a bizarre sequence, Jose Grace, 3-1, was easily handling seasoned Allen Medina, 7-12, when he himself halted the fight in the second round, and vomited in the corner of the ring. While confusion set in, the referee called time out whilst Grace vomited yet again.
Despite efforts by both corners to stop the fight, Grace said he was well enough to continue and was warned that had he vomited again, he would lose the fight. Grace was indeed OK to continue and floated on the wings of his jab to win a unanimous decision.
It was the season opener for the vastly popular “Fight Night at the Tank” series in San Jose, the first in a scheduled four installments for the 2007 season.
In attendance for Thursday’s action was boxing legend James Toney and current IBF Featherweight champion and San Jose favorite, Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero.
