The fight was ugly.
There was a lot of holding, wrestling and it down right dirty at times aka a typical Andre Ward fight. Also typical was Ward’s surgical like destruction of Edwin Rodriguez.
For a while it looked like the fight would end with someone being disqualified because after three fouled filled rounds this happened.
Once the fighters calmed down (being threatened to lose their purses helped) it was target practice for Ward. Rodriguez should be commended for surviving, because he didn’t win any rounds.
Considering Ward has been off for 14 months it was a very good performance, but it wasn’t the type of performance that will change the problems he has.
He is clearly the second best fighter in the world, but unlike the best fighter in the world Floyd Mayweather, Ward brings in no money and isn’t a draw anywhere except Oakland (very small crowd showed up for the fight in Oxnard).
Top tier opponents are willing to get embarrassed by Mayweather because they will make the most money in their boxing lives fighting him (that’s why everyone calls him out), but who wants to get embarrassed by Ward when there are bigger money fights out there against lesser fighters?
Ward doesn’t have a lot of options, but there is a path that might help him crossover to the mainstream. A fight with Julio Caesar Chavez Jr and then Gennady Golovkin could do the trick but we will see where Ward goes from here.