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

Ward claimed the WBA 168-pound title with an unanimous technical decision over Denmark's Mikkel Kessler in the 11th round Saturday 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 was the early favorite to win the Super Six tournament, but Ward soared on a wave of support from his frenzied Bay Area crowd.

"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 caused by a clash of heads.

"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. ... I don't want to sit here and complain all the time, but I wasn't happy with the referee."

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.

A raucous crowd of 10,277 packed the lower bowl of Oracle Arena for Oakland's first world title fight since October 1967, and Ward didn't disappoint _ although he ended the fight with noticeable unease in his eyes after the medical stoppage.

The decision's announcement set off a party for the fighter and Hunter, the trainer and mentor who shepherded Ward's rise from Oakland's mean streets to the biggest victory of his ascendant career.

"They've minimized him for his whole career, but we're glad that they did," Hunter said. "The way Andre does things, the strategy he uses and the skills he possesses, he never gets credit. Hopefully this will do something about that."