Green upset with Ward fight postponement

Super middleweight contender Allan Green (29-1, 20 KO’s) is less than pleased with the latest postponement by World Boxing Association super middleweight champion Andre Ward for his stage 2 Super Six bout, which was supposed to take place on April 24th in Oakland, California. Ward had to pull out of the fight due to swelling of his right leg. Ward’s doctor said that he will need four to six weeks to rehabilitate and rest his leg.

In the meantime, Green, 30, isn’t happy about it, saying “I fight through bumps, bruises and injuries, and we go through that. I fought Tarvis Simms with a bad right shoulder. If your knee keeps getting hurt, it could be something chronic and you’re probably not going to be ready in six weeks. If your knee is swollen, just take a cortisone shot.” Ward reportedly wants to take the fight with Green, but is hesitant to fight unless he’s 100%.
Ward won his first fight of the tournament with an 11 round technical decision over Mikkel Kessler last year. Ward, a 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist for the United States, showed remarkable skills in that fight, not only beating Kessler but dominating for the full 11 rounds of the fight. The win was so impressive that some boxing experts immediately made Ward the favorite to win the entire Super Six tournament.

Based on how good that Ward looked in beating Kessler and how easily he defeated knockout artist Edison Miranda last year, it’s doubtful that Ward is trying to avoid Green because he’s afraid of him. Green is a good fighter, but he’s not unbeatable. As we saw in his 10 round decision loss to Miranda in 2007, Green can be hurt in a fight if he gets hit with something big.

He also looked timid in the Miranda fight, and spent much of the bout fighting as if he was walking on egg shells. It’s somewhat understandable Green being cautious against Miranda, because Edison is after all a big puncher. However, Green wasted the entire fight playing it safe and not letting his hands go. In the 10th round, Miranda hurt Green and knocked him down twice before the time ran out.

For Green, it might be a good thing that Ward has taken time to rest and rehabilitate his right knee, because this will also give Green more time to prepare for Ward. That’s a good thing. Green is coming into the Ward fight with zero points and he needs to win this fight if he has any prayer of getting to the semi finals in the Super Six tournament.

Green vs. Ward: Is Allan too confident for his own good?

Super middleweight contender Allan Green (29-1, 20 KO’s) was recently picked as the replacement for Jermain Taylor in the Super Six tournament. While I think Green has good hand speed and nice power, I think he’s totally unproven as a fighter and someone who appears too confident for what he’s actually achieved in the boxing ring. Green, 30, appears confident to the extreme in his abilities as a fighter. Confidence is good, but with the exception of the mostly 2nd tier opponents that he’s faced during his career, Green hasn’t looked all that great when he’s fought upper level talent. Green also is starting to look a little old to me all of a sudden.

Green reminds me of a guy a struggling with algebra all of a sudden getting put in an advanced calculus class and then bragging how he’s going to ace all the tests. I just don’t see it happening. Green looked horrible in his losing effort against Edison Miranda in 2007. Miranda had Green down twice in the 10th round, and looked within a whisper of being stopped in the round.

I think Green is capable of beating some fighters in the top 15, just not any of the Super Six fighters unfortunately. I see the 26-year-old Ward giving Green a major spanking in their stage 2 Super Six fight on April 24th, in Oakland, California. Hopefully, Ward beats Green bad enough to the point where it takes away his cockiness and makes him more grounded as a fighter. I think Green might be a good fighter, but he’s not shown it in fights against top level fighters.

Green looked very mediocre in 10 round decision win over Tarvis Simms in October. Simms is a decent fighter, someone I would consider bottom 15, yet Green really struggled against him. And in Green’s fight with Miranda in 2007, Green looked paralyzed fear, not throwing punches and just looking like he was waiting for the bottom to drop out.

I can only imagine what Ward is going to do to Green on April 24th. It’s not going to be pretty. This is going to be a slaughter even worse than Ward’s 11 round technical decision win over Mikkel Kessler in November. Green is going to be lucky if he can even win a round. Honestly, I don’t expect Green to even do that well. I think he’s going to take heavy punishment from Ward in a one-sided fight until eventually Green is going to be knocked out.

In that respect, I think Green is the perfect replacement for Taylor. He can simply continue with the momentum that Taylor had going for him in his 12th round knockout loss to Arthur Abraham on October 17th last year. Ward pretty much proved that he along with Andre Dirrell are the cream of the Super Six crop in their first fights. Green will be fighting in Ward’s home city of Oakland, California in front of a huge pro-Ward crowd. I think this is going to further have Green shaking in his shoes on April 24th.

Green does have fast hands, but he’s mostly a cautious one-two puncher. He doesn’t throw a lot of three or four punch combinations and will likely find himself getting strung with counter punches from Ward. Green might have an edge in the power department, but Ward is clearly the better fighter of the two, and I think he’s going to make Green look like a terrible replacement for Taylor.