9 – W pts 12 Henry Buchanan
In Ward’s eighteenth professional bout, he convincingly beat Henry Buchanan for the vacant NABF super middleweight title. Buchanan, who boasted a similar record (17-1), was tipped to give Ward a competitive night’s work. But Ward made him look like a novice. He continuously tagged Buchanan throughout the twelve rounds, making it look like a sparring match at times. A landslide 120-108 on all three judges’ scorecards gave Ward the win.