Undefeated WBC/WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward put on a smashing performance to score a 10th round TKO over WBC light heavyweight champion ?Bad? Chad Dawson who dropped down in weight to make the fight but was also dropped three times en route to his second loss before a wildly-cheering Ward hometown crowd which included Ward's good friend, WBO/IBF super bantamweight champion Nonito ?The Filipino Flash? Donaire, at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.
With his performance which boxing writer Rick Reeno of boxingscene.com described as ?a brilliant, career-defining performance? Ward erased all doubts about his punching power alongside his undoubted skills.
Ward scored a flash knockdown in the third round and dropped Dawson again in the fourth with a looping left hand and although Dawson beat the count he was in bad shape although Ward, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist, couldn?t finish the job.
Ward continued to rip shots to the body and switched to the head and continued to hammer Dawson in the ninth and tenth rounds.
A flurry of hard punches by Ward, a 3 to 1 favorite among bookmakers, sent Dawson down for the third time forcing referee Steve Smoger to call a halt as the fans in the arena went wild.
Ward who was named ?Fighter of the Year? in 2011 by the Boxing Writers Association of America and is currently ranked No 5 in the pound-for-pound rankings behind Donaire who is No.4 is likely to move up following his superb performance in a fight telecast in the Philippines by AKTV IBC 13 on its popular weekly boxing show ?Big Time Bakbakan.?
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