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Ward Absorbs Kost, at No Cost

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Times Staff Writer

If he never accomplishes anything else in the ring, Kenny Kost can always say that he shook up Andre Ward, an Olympic gold-medal winner, a man who hasn’t lost a fight in six years, with a solid left hook that left Ward momentarily dazed against the ropes.

But that’s about all Kost could say about Thursday night’s fight.

In his second pro fight after winning the 178-pound division at the Athens Olympics, Ward bounced back from Kost’s first-round stunner to easily win a unanimous six-round decision in a tent set up beside the Palace Indian Gaming Center.

“I went to sleep in the ring,” Ward said, “because I looked too good and became too confident. That taught me a lesson, the most valuable thing I learned from this fight. If things don’t go right, stick to the game plan. The experience was priceless. A lot of young fighters don’t get tested early in their careers. I’m not going home with my head down.”

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No reason to do that. Ward, who won his pro debut in December on a second-round TKO at Staples Center, again showed the speed and versatility that should serve him well as he moves up to stiffer competition.

Kost, from St. Paul, Minn., entered the ring 8-0 with five knockouts, but three of those victories came against opponents making their pro debut and another was against a fighter who was 0-1.

Ward, who weighed in at 164 pounds for a match contracted at 166, peppered Kost with jabs, frustrated him with combinations and confused him by switching back and forth from a right-handed to a southpaw style.

As the rounds wore on, Kost tried to present a brave face, but the marks on that face gave him away. There was blood from a cut above his left eye, swelling around his right eye and blood on his trunks.

“Don’t get surprised during the fight,” Ward said in summing up his evening’s lessons, “and don’t get too excited afterward.”

Ward hopes to fight six times this year; his next bout is tentatively set for April.

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In the main event, World Boxing Council super-bantamweight champion Oscar Larios (55-3-1, 35 knockouts) successfully defended his title with a unanimous decision over former WBC bantamweight champ Wayne McCullough (27-5, 18). Although the action was nonstop, Larios couldn’t stop McCullough, Larios later explaining he had injured his right biceps.

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