Ward aiming to be back in the ring "in November or December"

Joe Ward passed the toughest test of his professional boxing career to date on Saturday last (August 8) when he recorded a unanimous points decision win over the previously undefeated Artjom Kasparian on the first Zuffa Boxing show to take place in Ireland.

The Moate light-heavyweight won by scores of 97-93 (twice) and 96-94 after ten bruising rounds at Dublin’s 3Arena.

The contest was on the undercard of Monaghan man Aaron McKenna’s victory in his world middleweight title bout, and afterwards Zuffa Boxing declared Ward-Kasparian the “fight of the night”.

Speaking to the Westmeath Independent on Monday, Ward acknowledged he “had to dig deep” against his Russian-born, English based, opponent who entered the ring with a record of 14 wins and no defeats (12 wins by KO).

“It was a tough fight for me, especially coming back from being out of the ring for more than 20 months,” said Ward. “Kasparian had a good amateur boxing pedigree, and an unbeaten record as a professional. He was definitely a tough opponent and I knew that going in.

“It was a great fight, one that had a couple of twists and turns along the way, but overall I felt the second half of the fight was fairly one-sided in my favour.

“I had to dig deep. I always knew I was skilful and clever, but I was showing that over three rounds as an amateur. To be able to go into the trenches and do it for ten rounds as a pro shows what I’ve always believed - that I’ll be able to take on the best in the world.”

Ward settled into the fight well, looking comfortable and sharp in the early exchanges.

Kasparian began to have more success in the third and fourth rounds, however, and Ward admitted he was feeling the pace at that point.

“In the early rounds I had to be wary of his punching power, because he was loading up and putting a lot of physical pressure on me,” he said.

“The only blip I had was in the fourth, where he had good momentum and I felt like I was fatiguing quickly. I think that was just down to the inactivity, and maybe the change of pace.

“But as soon as I sat down on the stool after the fourth round, and got back up again, I was totally fine. I was fresh and ready to go again.

“I finished stronger and was the far better fighter coming to the end of it. My conditioning was good, but I learned a lot from that fourth round and I’ll take that into my next fight.”

Ward, a three-time medallist at world boxing championships as an amateur, had his best round of the fight in the seventh. He landed a huge uppercut in that round and followed up with a flurry of combination punching that rocked Kasparian.

By this stage, it was Kasparian who was looking the more tired of the two, and Ward used his ring smarts to good effect, landing the cleaner and more effective punches during the closing rounds to deservedly claim an important victory.

He said boxing at the 3Arena was a special experience, and thanked his friends and supporters for their backing.

“The fan base, and the support that I received, has been incredible. To get an opportunity to fight in the 3Arena is something I had dreamed of. The atmosphere there, in a packed-out arena, was electric.”

This month’s bout was his first of a four-fight deal with Zuffa Boxing, the promotional company co-founded by the UFC’s Dana White.

Ward is now hoping to be back in action again in November or December. “I have an idea of when the next fight might be, but nothing’s confirmed yet. I’m hoping we’ll know more in the next three to four weeks,” he said.

“I want to keep the ball rolling. It will just be a little rest up for me now, and then I’ll be straight back into the gym to get ready for the next one.”