Ward came into the ring as a huge favorite to win over Brand, who is about seven years his senior with a fairly impressive record of 25 wins and a loss.
Brand was competitive in the first four rounds but Ward made necessary adjustments and starting on the fifth round he was scoring at will against the 39-year-old Colombian.
Although Ward is known as an orthodox fighter, he switched to southpaw for a couple of rounds as part of his strategy to confuse Brand and it worked for him as he scored with his jabs and left and right combos.
Ward was clearly the dominant fighter in the later rounds as Brand was more concerned about his defense to evade Ward’s unrelenting assault. There was no knockdown but it was almost a one-sided fight. Al three judges had it at 120-108 in favor of Ward.
“We knew this guy was going to be really, really hard to knock out, he’s a veteran,” Ward said. “People got to realize that when a guy with his experience doesn’t want to get knocked out, it’s hard. He’s throwing punches from crazy angles, he’s got nothing to lose.
“I tried to press it, but it’s good to get the rounds.” Ward added.
Ward’s sudden decision to move up to the light heavyweight limit of 175 pounds caught boxing fans by surprise as he has been doing quite well in the 168-pound limit.
Reports have indicated that he was looking at a lucrative fight against the unbeaten Russian light heavyweight titlist Kovalev, who is rated number one in the Ring’s 175 pounds weight limit. Read more:
Last June both Ward and Kovalev agreed to face each other on Nov. 19 on condition that they both win in their respective tune-up fights which they both did. The fight will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
