Andre Ward returned after 19 months out with a convincing win over Britain’s Paul Smith in a non-title catchweight bout in California on Saturday.
The American unbeaten super-middleweight champion dominated from the start in his home city of Oakland.
Smith, 32, caught his 31-year-old opponent with a right in the seventh but was cut later in the round.
With Smith’s face covered in blood and a suspected broken nose, his trainer threw in the towel in the ninth round.
