FightPost Boxer of the Week: Thomas Patrick Ward

FightPost Boxer of the Week: Thomas Patrick Ward 

By Gary Kittilsen

What do Tyson Fury, Ricky Hatton, and Carl Froch all have in common? Give up? They all got their first US television exposure on Showtime’s ShoBox series, and they were all highly impressive in that American debut and waking up the US audience. They also all went on to become major draws on both sides of the Atlantic.

Will Thomas Patrick Ward be next to continue that trend? His performance on Friday night at the Kansas Star Arena, Mulvane which aired on ShoBox was nothing short of sensational. In a fight that most US pundits and experts thought was a pretty even money fight between two prospects proved to be anything but. Ward was completely dominant in his performance against Texas-based Super Bantamweight Jesse Angel Hernandez. Ward took a lopsided decision by scores of 98-90, 99-90,100-89.

Hernandez stayed on the aggressive and looked for the knockout, but was mostly ineffective in tracking down and cutting the ring off on Ward. Hernandez, switched back and forth between the southpaw and conventional stance had a few moments in the third round but outside of that his aggression was snuffed out by The West Rainton technician who showed that his superiors skills were clearly levels ahead of his game opponents. Boxing masterfully throughout the 10 round WBO-title eliminator.

Ward consistently landed crisp-clean two and three punch combinations and then would get out-of-the-way of his opponent’s heavy artillery. Ward, who sports just four knockouts on his resume showed surprising pop that dropped Hernandez and nearly beheaded him nearing the end of the fourth round, with a single left hook. The Brit had his opponent in serious trouble throughout the second half of the fight and several times referee Bill Clancy looked in and threatened to stop the fight due to all of the punishing shots Hernandez was eating.

Ward displayed his world-class boxing skill and established himself as no longer just a British prospect but a legitimate world title contender. The 122-pound division is a fairly deep and competitive division with lots of potential opponents for Ward that could get Ward a very lucrative payday and a title shot. Perhaps that shot will come against Emanuel Navarrete the current WBO Super bantamweight champion.