With a stunning victory in his hometown of Oakland, Calif., Andre Ward proved he's ready for the world.

Ward claimed the WBA 168-pound title with a unanimous technical decision over Denmark's Mikkel Kessler in the 11th round last night, adding his first world championship belt to his Olympic gold medal.

Ward (21-0, 13 KOs) announced his arrival among the world's elite boxers with a dynamic thrashing of Kessler (42-2), the WBA super middleweight champion for most of the past five years and the early favorite to win the Super Six tournament.

"Right now, I'm dreaming," Ward said after celebrating in the thick of a massive Oakland party with his trainer, Virgil Hunter. "I don't know what I'm feeling. I can't compare this to winning the gold medal, because it's going to take a while for it all to sink in. ... Everyone said we got the bad draw, but we just beat the toughest guy."

In both fighters' debut bout in the Super Six tournament, Ward's speed, discipline and work rate gradually reduced Kessler's face to a bloody mess — although the longtime champion felt Ward also took liberties with elbows and head-butts. The ringside physician stopped the fight midway through the 11th round after looking at a growing cut on Kessler's face, which was caused by a head butt.

A fight is decided on the scorecards in a technical decision. Sweden's Mikael Hook favored Ward 97-93, while South Africa's Stanley Christodoulou and California's Steve Morrow both scored it 98-92 for Ward. The Associated Press also had it for Ward 97-93.

"He was the better man tonight, but I would have liked the fight to go another minute," Kessler said. "I knew I could have continued. I was cut, but the cuts weren't that bad. He threw a lot of elbows, and there were a lot of head butts, and he never got any warnings."

COLLEGE BASEBALL

ASU'S MURPHY RESIGNS

Pat Murphy has resigned after 15 seasons as baseball coach at Arizona State.

No reason was given for the surprise move, which was announced by the university in a brief news release on Friday.

The colorful and often outspoken Murphy led the Sun Devils to the College World Series four times — 1998, 2005, 2007 and 2009.

He took over the historically successful Sun Devil program in August 1994 after seven seasons at Notre Dame. Under Murphy, Arizona State compiled a 629-284-1 record.

FIGURE SKATING

ROCHETTE TOPS IN CANADA

Canadian champion Joannie Rochette wasn't flawless, but she fought through an exhausting long program last night to win the women's event at Skate Canada International at Kitcherner, Ontario.

In fact, the 23-year-old from Ile Dupas, Quebec, blew away the competition at Kitchener Memorial Auditorium, besting silver medallist Alissa Czisny of the U.S. by almost 20 points.

Her overall score of 182.90 was a season-high. Czisny was next with 163.53, followed by bronze medallist Laura Lepisto of Finland with 158.52.

In men's singles, Jeremy Abbott of the U.S. landed a quad and a gold medal, edging Japan's Daisuke Takahashi.

Abbott, the only competitor to attempt a quad jump, scored 232.99 to Takahashi's 231.31.

Earlier in the day, Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany ran away with the pairs competition.

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

GRIFFIN TRIUMPHS

Forrest Griffin beat Tito Ortiz in a split decision last night in the main event of the UFC 106 in Las Vegas.

Two judges had the fight scored 30-27 and 29-28 for Griffin while the third judge had Ortiz winning 29-28. Ortiz had beaten Griffin in 2006.

Griffin (17-6 MMA, 8-4 UFC) ended a two-fight losing streak, while Ortiz (15-7-1 MMA, 14-7-1 UFC) hasn't won since an October 2006 win over Ken Shamrock.

In the co-main event, Josh Koscheck sunk a rear naked choke on Anthony Johnson and forced him to tap out with just 13 seconds remaining in the second round.

In a undercard bout, Maui's Kendall Grove defeated Jake Rosholt via submission using a triangle choke at 3:59 of the first round.