Andre Ward isn’t going to run from Allan Green. He plans to run over him Saturday in their Super Six bout in Oakland.
There’s a tendency to wrongly assume Ward’s superior speed will provide a primarily defensive advantage, elusiveness, that should limit the heavy-hitting Green’s firepower.
No, the Ward camp considers speed a primarily offensive advantage that will enhance Ward’s firepower.
Green has not reckoned with that distinction, says Virgil Hunter, Ward’s trainer, and that’s why he expects Ward to beat Green to the punch to the point of overwhelming him.
“Everything we do, we do with speed,” Hunter says. “If (Green) stays where he is in the speed zone, he’s going to get chewed up.”
Hunter’s eloquence almost always transcends hyperbole, so his threats should seem chilling to Green. “He’s going to be hit,” Hunter promises. “He’s not going to have an opportunity to rest. He’s going to find out how violent Andre really is.
Green can be pretty eloquent too, but does the following convince you he knows what he’s going to do?
“I’m not going to give up too much of my tactics,” Green said during the buildup to Saturday’s bout, in which Ward’s WBA super-middleweight title will be at stake. “If I have to be slick, I’ll be slick. If I have to box, I’ll box. If I have to brawl, I’ll brawl.”
That in fact, is Green’s seat-of-the-pants style. He’s bright, and he’s a solid pro. He knows how to box to score points, how to use his length advantage and stay within himself until the opportunity comes to land a huge punch, which he usually does by winning an exchange of left hooks or by lunging like a viper with uncanny accuracy.
His opponents have almost never been his physical equal, though, and it’s going to prove true that he has not reckoned with what Ward’s superior speed will truly mean.
To be fair, Ward’s relentless onslaughts in his past three fights, against Henry “Sugar Poo” Buchanan, Edison Miranda and Mikkel Kessler, did not end in knockouts, but Green seems not to have noticed how badly he busted up each of them.
“He’s like a little hummingbird; he tries to keep you off balance from the offset,” Green said of Ward (21-0, 13 knockouts). “He’s slick, he’s foxy and he looked good against Kessler. But I’m not Kessler.”
By that Green (29-1, 20 knockouts) says he means that a lot of Ward’s tactics that befuddled Kessler wouldn’t have befuddled him or many other well-schooled, street-smart American fighters.
Maybe so, but Green is going to be easier to hit than Kessler, which is why Ward will stop him in six rounds. Green may land a power shot or two, but he will be outgunned.
“We are going to find out,” Hunter says, “who has the dynamite in the fists.”
SUPER SIX FORMAT: Each boxer fights three bouts against different opponents in the field in the points-based Group Stage of competition (A win generates two points, with a one point bonus for a knockout or TKO; a loss earns no points; and a draw earns one). After the Group Stage, the four fighters with the highest point totals will advance to the single-elimination semifinals. The two winners of the semifinals will fight for the Super Six World Boxing Classic trophy.
PREVIOUS SUPER SIX HIGHLIGHTS:
* Green holds his own verbally on Ward's turf
* Kessler's win over Froch makes Ward look good
* Would Dirrell's doubters have preferred corpse?
* Ward upsets Kessler to earn WBA title, respect
* Replacing Taylor with Green would solve problem
Comments
I pick green to ktfo ward.
Now this is one of D' fights no one should miss. I mean the hype being fought by their respective handlers.
Levity aside this Ward/Greene setto is a must-see ruction as one ring sage once postulated.
See ya all then at the Oakland Coliseum---Home of the brave Raiders, Warriors and A's
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