Olympic Gold Medalist and WBA super middleweight world champion Andre Ward dominated Paul Smith on Saturday and earned a 9th-round TKO after Smith’s trainer threw in the towel. Fighting at the Oracle Arena in his hometown of Oakland after a 19-month layoff and fighting at light heavyweight for the first time, Ward looked sharp and strong throughout the fight. Ward (28-0, 15KOs) and Smith (35-6, 20 KOs) started slowly, throwing tentative jabs in the first round. Ward was content to throw punches with both hands and throw them from all angles as Smith took a defense-oriented approach. While Smith blocked a lot of punches as the fight progressed, he took his share to the head and body, and he was cut above his left eye by the eighth round. Smith’s trainer Joe Gallagher said after the fight that his fighter was taking too much punishment and blood was pouring into his eye. Smith, who said Ward’s last combination might have broken his nose, called the amount of blood was “unbearable.”
