BAY AREA FANS WERE DEPRIVED FOR SO LONG!
San Francisco, CA– For those of us that have lived through a few generations of boxing here in the last of the liberal bastions that is the San Francisco Bay Area, we have seen for the better part of four decades nothing but a plethora of pugilistic mediocrity. There were guys that could draw, and guys that could fight, but rarely were boxers that could do both.
AND THEN CAME ANDRE WARD
In the late 1990s, I was invited to an amateur show by the late Marsha King, wife of Charles King, the pair operated King’s Gym in Oakland, CA, where I got my first glimpse of who has become the fourth Oakland sports franchise in Andre Ward. Home of baseball’s Oakland A’s, NFL Oakland Raiders and the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, Andre Ward is the fourth and only happy city sports franchise. The A’s want out, the Raiders threaten a move to Los Angeles, again, and the Warriors are contemplating going back across the pond to San Francisco, all the while Andre Ward is defending his World title at home tonight against Allan Green.
NEITHER GUY IS TALKIN’ NOW
Although there was some bad blood early on in the promotion, this after an April date was switched to June 19 after Andre injured his knee doing something he shouldn’t have been doing at that stage of training, pulling a sled. But ever since that Green has acted a lot more relaxed when discussing Ward and the fight that will air Saturday night on Showtime at 7 PM PT (10 PM ET). Ward is a quiet guy that can smolder inside and you wouldn’t know it. To say Green ticked him off when he doubted the injury during an appearance on “Ring Talk Worldwide” earlier this year would be an understatement.
TIX AT THE DOOR STARTING AT $35
Doors open at 4 PM, fights start at 5 and tickets start at $35 and go to $300. With an anticipated total attendance of 11,000 or better, Green-Ward will do well at the box office. And seeing that the 168 lb. “Super Six” tourney seems to have the attention of every knowledgeable boxing fan on the planet, I expect Showtime will do well as they offer the fight on PPV to non-Showtime customers in the US. The fight will be broadcast live in Europe as well.
Pedro Fernandez