Recap: Nothing like a 3-round battle between a couple of battlers who really dont like each other, as A. Ward and John John Da Don proved on their contentious buildup/promotion for Summer Madness XVI. Business disagreements aside, the battle itself turns out to be close one (which certainly curtailed all the ‘3-0’ chants for Ward online prior to URL releasing the battle on their app). A battle that never lacked for performance (a personal-lit and turned-up Ward tossing money into the crowd during round 1 being the biggest highlight), personal insult/disses and alleged bad business dealings from sides, at the end of the day the bout simply came down to who rapped better. And after getting edged to the more biting, consistent and efficient Ward in the opener, John John’s ability to flex his versatility when it came to gritty punchlines, some Christian-themed/pointed personals, righteous race angles, quality wordplay, fierce set-up/punchlines and fiery schemes vs. Ward’s more momentous, but too often repetitive and pedestrian rounds, would allow the ‘Other-da-Don’ to edge both of the latter rounds for the comeback win.

Verdict: John John Da Don (W) 2-1

Favorite line: John John Da Dom – “So let’s stop acting like y’all don’t know the champ in trouble, you gonna fuck around and get a round that you can’t rebuttal!”