Andre Ward is the best technical fighter in the world today*

*I'm exempting Hopkins from this since I'm not really sure what his current state is.

I only got round to watching Ward/Green a couple of days ago and have now had time to sit down and properly study the film. I was so impressed with Ward (I may even change my avatar ). It was easily one of the best technical displays I've seen from the last decade, and at times I felt like I was watching Bernard Hopkins at his peak. Since the Kessler win I've believed Ward to be top p4p material, but this performance for me catapults him up to being perhaps the finest fighter outside of Pacquaio and Mayeather. He's matured from being an athletic prospect to an ATG technician in the making.

From the very opening you can see the adjustments Ward has made to his game. The constant pawing with the jab (although this does re-emerge later) has been replaced with a much more solid high left hand, which Ward can use to pop a solid jab to the body or the head or as an extra defensive tool. His foot-work has also improved, with him taking short steps back to retain perfect balance at all times, even whilst circling (1:30) rather than the lunging in with the straight right-left hook we saw against Kessler time and time again, which threatened to leave him there for the taking against a top-notch counter-puncher. What remains is a flawless classical defensive stance, with the knees bent, both hands in optimum position, slightly more weight on the back foot and the head off centre (pause at 1:27 to admire).

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPZFvM0qcfk[/ame]

These new defensive measures pay dividends throughout, and Green has enormous problems just getting a clean punch through Ward's guard, especially with the right hand which seems constantly glued to his cheekbone Duran-style.

Inside, Ward's intellect is second-to-none. He knows his best option is to smother Green's power and work inside where his lack of technical acumen poses a problem. He's always getting himself in prime positions up close, such as ensuring he holds the opponent's hand nearest to his head to stop him pecking away with left hooks, whilst keeping his other hand (closest to Green's head) free to attack (a classic Hopkins move), shown at around 9:10 above. When Green keeps his elbows in to stop Ward from holding, Ward keeps his chin down and the right arm is used to cover his whole body, while he sneaks in uppercuts off Green's chest (start of next video). All this stuff takes considerable strength and stamina, too, which is a credit to Ward's physical abilities as well as anything else.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VGc9TULhTI&feature=related[/ame]

Feinting. This isn't strictly technical (or untechnical) stuff, but it's part of Ward's overall game and is worth addressing. He is a master at feinting already. He can pull off different styles of feint, from the basic stutter-step to keep your opponent wondering when you'll attack to the actual extension of one arm to sell an attack on one side and then the quick switch to the other side when your man doesn't expect it. At 6:44 below Ward feints a quick jab before throwing the left hook. Green is so paralysed with confusion that he bends backwards, leaving the opening for the hook, and allowing Ward to subsequently step to the side to create an angle for a follow-up right hand as well. Ward's tendency to paw with the left is also a natural feinting mechanism (e.g. 8:13 below) that helps to set up jabs and the right hand, as is his periodic shift to dropping his left hand down low. By the end of the fight, Green is tied in knots.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QubCmxqx_uY&feature=related[/ame]


Ward still has a way to go. He spent the whole of the Green fight on the inside, but it would be nice for him to show some more technical expertise from range as well. He doesn't jab enough for me. He paws overly, despite actually having a very quick and technically proper jab when he chooses to use it (see 3:37 in the first video). Even for somebody who relies on the right hand and the hook more, the odd jab adds variety, helps control the distance and can be massively disrupting to an advancing opponent. He also tends to get caught backing up in a straight line from time to time, which incidentally correlates with when he gets clipped - standing his ground more and being more willing to step to the side after throwing as he did expertly vs. Miranda are all possible ways to avoid this issue.

But just a few ideas and positives there. This kid really is something special. Fighters sometimes fall in love with their physical attributes, but you can see that Ward is putting his athletic gifts to good use with some hard time in the gym to mould himself into a great technical fighter. For me, he's the best in the upper divisions right now, and I think he could go a very long way.

 

Is that what I just said, ****-for-brains?

 

I thought somebody might bring Mayweather up. Mayweather is a better (read: more proven) fighter right now, but I've never fancied him as a technician. He's a defensive boxer, which is necessarily technical in a way, but he does have certain unorthodoxies. The shoulder roll, whilst effective, isn't a technically great system. Mayweather's footwork also seems to be going downhill, and he can be caught backing up (though Ward also has that flaw). I also have a few bones to pick with Mayweather's punch execution.

That said, a lot of Ward's defensive moves seemed to have similarities to some of Mayweather's best defensive performances, e.g. Hatton.