Weekend Roundup: Ward, Porter and Lemieux
Quite the weekend of world championship boxing has been and gone, here’s a round up of all the major happenings.
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Ward as good as ever
Andre “S.O.G.” Ward may have been coming off nearly a two year lay off from the sport, but you wouldn’t have known it Saturday night with the classy performance he put in over the UK’s Paul Smith.
Smith brave and game as ever, tried his best, but in truth the gulf in class was just too much for him.
The fight was a non title catchweight affair in Ward’s hometown of Oakland, although Andre weighed in considerably over the agreed limit which apparently cost him some of his purse on the night.
Although Smith caught Ward with some decent right hands on a couple of occasions, Ward dominated the bout from start to finish, winning every round on the judges scorecards before Smith’s trainer threw in the towel in the 9th round to save his fighter from further unnecessary punishment.
Porter stuns Adrien Broner
Some people questioned how the catchweight nature of 144 lbs would affect Shaun Porter this weekend in his non title fight with Adrien Broner, but it was clear from the get go that Porter did the weight spot on, on route to a highly impressive points victory live on NBC prime time TV in the States.
This wasn’t without drama however, as Broner knowing he was behind on points in the final round, came out swinging and leveled Porter, only for Porter to hold on for the last couple of minutes in a frantic round.
The win came as great news for Porter’s trainer and father Kenny Porter, who no doubt had a father’s day to remember.
Lemieux beats courageous Hassan N’Dam
David Lemieux won the vacant IBF middleweight title Saturday night in Montreal, Canada, with a really scintillating points win over the ultra hard Hassan N’Dam.
Lemieux remarkably knocked N’Dam down four times during the fight on Saturday night, but despite this, it has to be said that Hassan was very much in the fight.
N’Dam showed a grit, toughness and level of bravery that is rarely seen, even in a sport like boxing. It was incredible the punishment he was able to absorb at times, along with the resolve he showed to keep fighting back.
The win for Lemieux moves him into potential big unification fight opportunities in the division, which is as stacked as any in world boxing at the moment.
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