Chad Dawson (right) was among the series of elite fighters Ward defeated in and after the Super Six tournament. Photo by Jeff Chiu/AP
A rare battle of champions from Ring magazine.
On September 8, 2012, Andre Ward shone with a 10th-round knockout of Chad Dawson to retain the Ring, WBA and WBC super middleweight titles at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. The official time was 2:45.
Ward (25-0, 14 KOs) was coming off a series of career-defining wins at the Showtime Super Six tournament. The former Olympic champion largely dominated in brilliant wins over Mikkel Kessler (TD 11), Allan Green (UD 12), Sakio Bika (UD 12), Arthur Abraham (UD 12) and Carl Froch.
Dawson (31-1, 17 KOs) was a former The Ring and WBC light heavyweight champion (titles not on the line). The lanky left-hander from Connecticut had built a stellar resume, defeating the likes of Glen Johnson (UD 12, UD 12), Antonio Tarver (UD 12, UD 12) and Bernard Hopkins (MD 12).
Confident in his ability and pedigree, Dawson decided to drop seven pounds to challenge Ward for glory in a second division.
It turned out to be a devastating experience.
Now in the prime of his career, Ward was razor-sharp from the opening bell. The Oakland star, a harder hitter than you’d think, dropped Dawson with a solid left hook in Round 3. Few expected Ward’s power to register against the naturally bigger man. They were wrong.
It was more of the same in the room. Seconds into the round, a lead left hook put the challenger up again and Ward was now having a field day. Dawson bravely rose, only to be pinned by another fuselage of left hooks. He could not escape from that blow: he felt and did not see himself.
The punishment intensified down the stretch and Dawson was running empty-handed into the 10th round. Not surprisingly, it was another left hook that opened the challenger’s parachute. Ward followed up with a loud two-punch blast and an energy drained Dawson collapsed to the canvas once more. He had nothing left and referee Steve Smoger called off the fight.
Ward’s pound-for-pound ascent continued.
