OFFICIAL SPONSORS
OF USA BOXING
|
|
|
|
|
| WARD DEFEATS TWO-TIME WORLD CHAMPION TO ADVANCE TO THE SEMIFINALS |
|
|
ATHENS, GREECE – Andre Ward was not only battling a two-time World Champion, Evgeny Makarenko when he stepped into the ring at the Persiteri Olympic Boxing Hall on Tuesday night, he was battling perception and history. Ward defeated both when he won a huge 23-16 victory over Makarenko in their light heavyweight (178 lbs/81 kg) contest to clinch the United States’ first boxing medal and a spot in the semifinal round.
Ward spoke of reading the story of David and Goliath on Tuesday in his mental preparation for the bout and he wrote his own story of overcoming obstacles by defeating the favored Russian on Tuesday night. After walking to ringside under a shower of boos, Ward opened the bout by scoring the first point and winning the first round, a massive factor in all the United States’ previous losses and a key that the coaches had emphasized repeatedly. Ward overcame his five-inch height discrepancy by getting inside and utilizing his phenomenal speed to score punches and confuse and frustrate Makarenko. He moved out to a 7-3 lead after the first round and maintained his strong movement, defense and ring intelligence to take a five-point advantage into the second half of the bout. The Russian looked to use his height and sharp right hand to make up his deficit but Ward never allowed him to get into his comfort zone, using his angles and movement to keep Makarenko from boxing the bout he wanted to. As the final round began, Ward held a six-point lead and although Ward could have chosen to run for the final round, he boxed a smart but relatively aggressive final round. He stayed away from Makarenko’s strong hand but moved inside in spurts to score several points of his own and when the final bell rang, Ward was announced the winner by a 23-16 final decision.
“We definitely had a game plan to stay on the angles, we saw in his previous bout with the Cuban that they stayed right in front of each other and right in his comfort zone,” Ward said. “He has a beautiful straight right hand and I believe that’s why he’s on top because he’s so accurate. The game plan was to stay to his right or to his left and if not there, to stay mid-range because I was the shorter man. If all else fails, just to be myself and give it 100% and that’s what I did.”
“He boxed a beautiful bout, we had some strategy for him,” Abdullah said. We wanted him to box to the left, away from the right hand but I made the decision to just let Andre be himself. We realized that the Russians’ right hand can only be effective when we sit in front of him so we wanted to turn for four two-minute rounds and Andre turned him all night.”
Ward was well aware that he came in as the underdog but as he prepared for the bout, he looked back to the biblical story of David and Goliath to find some spiritual inspiration.
“I read the story of David and Goliath today and it talked about how bold David was and how much faith he had in God and that he didn’t look at Goliath’s accolades and the things he had accomplished,” Ward recalled. “David was nothing but a youth, but he didn’t worry about that, he just looked at God and said God I will destroy this man in your name and that’s what I told God today. I am the smaller man, I know they are underestimating me. The world has underestimated me. With that motivation right there and the help of God, I had to seize the moment and I had to fight within the moment, I didn’t have enough time to worry about his accolades or what he had won.”
The formerly downtrodden U.S. team found a new reason to smile with the tremendous victory they have been waiting for as well as the guarantee of their first medal. Ward was
clearly pleased with the win but knows that there is still work to be done.
“The coaches put a great plan together and I just tried to follow the game plan the best I could and I came out with the win so I’m very happy,” Ward said. “I can relish in the victory tonight but I’ve got to put it behind me because I have two more tough bouts in front of me.”
Ward’s will take on Uzbekistan’s Utkirbek Haydarov in Friday’s semifinal action with the winner advancing to the semifinal match-up. Middleweight (165 lbs/75 kg) Andre Dirrell will compete in his quarterfinal bout with Cuba’s Yordanis Despaigne on Wednesday evening as he looks to clinch as second medal for the U.S. team.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|