OAKLAND, Calif. — Andre Ward knocked out Chad Dawson with his third knockdown punch of the night in the 10th round to defend his WBC-WBA super middleweight titles Saturday night and delight his hometown crowd.

Ward (26-0, 14 KOs) knocked down Dawson (31-2, 17 KOs) late in the third round and early in the fourth to take control of the fight and finished him off with a combination at 2:45 of the 10th.

“I did everything I had to do in camp to prep for this fight. He was a lot faster than I thought he would be. He’s strong, too. I can’t take anything away from him. He really is the best … It was hard to get my shots off. The weight was OK but I’m going to go back to 175 and decide what to do next. Andre Ward is a helluva champion," Dawson said.