By David Martinez / dmboxing.com

After a 27 month layoff,  in his debut at 175 pounds, former super middleweight champion Andre Ward (29-0 / 15 by KO) dropped and completely dominated previously unbeaten Sullivan Barrera (17-1 / 12 by KO) to win a 12 round unanimous decision in their light heavyweight fight.  The bout was televised on HBO from the Oracle Arena, Oakland, California, on Saturday night.

The official scores were 117-109, 119-109, 117-108.  On my score card, Ward was the clear winner 118-108, ten rounds to one with one round even – a point was taken away from Ward for a low blow in round eight.

Ward was in control and out-boxed Barrera throughout the fight. He put Barrera down in round three with an over-the-top left hook to the head and won every round but the eleventh in this one-sided fight.

With the win, Ward eyes a future mega-title showdown with unbeaten WBO/WBA/IBF light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (29-0-1 / 26 by KO).