Recap: From URL, A. Ward’s decade long anti-URL crusade (and ego) finally pays off and gets him his first battle on the ‘World’s Most Respected’ league at its highest level: Summer Madness XV against T-Top in the UK. And credit to Ward for making it all well worth the wait as the battle stayed competitive, performative and lit (thanks in part to a hyped London crowd that stayed in tune to every bar) throughout. Yet, while both battlers came with plenty of consistent heat and crowd-pleasing antics, Top’s penchant for elongated rounds (as well as his opponent’s syrupy comeuppance in the latter two rounds) would hurt him in the end. The Bear edging round 1 with some fierce off-the-dome tropes to along with a gang of gritty punchlines, witty barbs, wily personals/name flips, righteous trap talk and piercing gun bars in a 10-minute round that was unbridled enough to beat a game and pretty nice/versatile turn by Ward. However, rounds 2 and 3 would tell a different story. A slightly more condensed and steadier with the punches A. Ward delivering a superb round 2 (to edge that round) with some dope rebuttals, a bunch of stifling set-up/punchlines/gun darts, boastful darts, spicy religious themes and witty/hardbody personals as well as a crazy turn in the decisive 3rd with more of the same potent bars and feelgood wordplay to again beat back Top (who delivered two more pretty solid turns, but succumbed to some filler and pedestrian lines in both of the latter rounds) and earn a comeback win.
Verdict: A. Ward (W) 2-1
Favorite line: A. Ward – “The clip hang like an apostrophe in front of T, you think I can’t or won’t, don’t!”
