JOE WARD BANISHED any residual doubts from his injury-caused debut defeat as he outclassed the same opponent, Marco Delgado, in a six-round rematch in Salinas, Puerto Rico.

The former Irish amateur boxing great rebooted his professional career in shutting out Delgado, against whom he dislocated his knee just four minutes into his maiden professional bout and suffered a technical defeat at Madison Square Garden in October 2019.

The three judges at ringside all deemed it a whitewash for the Moate light-heavyweight, 60-54, although Delgado was probably worth a round or two in a rugged fight during which Ward only started to hit his stride from the penultimate entry onwards.

Ward picked up two quick wins in Mexico in December of last year to move to 2-1(2KOS) and dust off the cobwebs but he still didn’t look entirely sure of himself in what was, for the second time, the ‘first real test’ of his credentials in the paid ranks, his original bout with Delgado having been called off due to his injury before he’d had a chance to even break a sweat.

The Californian [7-1, 5KOs], two years Ward’s senior at 29, was asked by the Ring City USA and NBC broadcast in advance of the sequel if he bought into the Ward ‘hype’, to which he responded, ‘what hype?’ And that’s exactly how Delgado fought in the wee hours of Friday morning Irish time at the Albergue Olimpico arena.

He had his moments, landing perhaps the heaviest shot of the fight in the fourth, but was second best for the most part as Ward dipped his toes back into actually-competitive professional boxing and became more comfortable as the contest progressed.

Ward, kitted out in Irish colours, combatted a crude early storm concocted by his opponent with some neat combinations, retaining composure as Delgado charged forward bull-like.

The American landed the odd one and was effective in smothering some of Ward’s early attempts but probably swallowed the round’s harder shots from the Moate man.

Delgado showed a bit of scientific ability of his own in the second, slipping outside Ward’s right foot and attempting to box from range. He might have nicked the round through sheer activity alone, though were was a smile from Ward as he slipped a wild haymaker at the bell with something closer resembling the trademark pizazz Irish boxing fans grew accustomed to watching when he was in his world-beating pomp as an amateur.

Ward bossed the third, diffusing Delgado with a sprinkling of body work. He took a solid right on the whiskers, maybe Delgado’s only meaningful shot of that particular round, but largely controlled the round from distance.

Delgado took a few warnings throughout, hitting on the break at least once and landing a deliberate rabbit punch, but the efficacy of his rumbunctious tactics wore thinner as the minutes ticked on.

There was confusion before the fourth as some at ringside appeared to believe it was to be the final round only for referee Jose Hiram Rivera to interject, ‘The contract says six!’

Rivera was indeed correct and the fourth and non-final round was another rough-and-tumble affair. Ward took a bomb to the kisser — this time as he was off the mark with his own left hook — but he walked it off and probably claimed the round with a stern left directly to Delgado’s solar plexus.

Ward was beginning to find the target with that backhand left from his southpaw stance and the fifth was his best round to that point as he worked his way into something of a rhythm. Crucial to the tidy beat was his jab, which he had seldom opted to deploy during the four rounds prior.

The 2016 Olympian landed a few hard lefts down Delgado’s pipe and stayed out of danger, pocketing the round with sound fundamentals and hints of his old swagger.

The sixth and actual final round was similar: Ward was beginning to land in two-punch flurries that would have taken their toll if he’d had a few more rounds to play with. Delgado remained game but couldn’t craft openings of his own, partially because Ward’s head movement can at times be confusingly good for a fighter of his size.

Ultimately, Ward’s late improvement augurs well for his pro career: he had never previously fought past the first minute of the second round — the exact moment in which his knee combusted against Delgado on his debut — but it was conspicuous that eight or even 10 rounds might have been attainable in what was only his fourth paid outing.

The three-time European amateur champion and two-time World Championship silver medalist improved to 3-1(2KOs) as he was deservedly awarded the contest on a unanimous decision. He will need to become less reactive and more enterprising as he makes that infamous transition from one boxing code to the other, a move which will require patience from his co-trainers Joey Gamache and Jimmy Payne as well as from Ward himself.

Crucially, though, he can now move beyond memories of his initial meeting with Delgado and look to scale heights in the professional game commensurate to the elite boxing ability he purveyed in an Irish vest.

Murray Kinsella, Bernard Jackman and Gavan Casey preview Ireland’s game against England and try to figure out where this team is going under Andy Farrell, if anywhere:

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