Olympic Gold Medalist Andre Ward Ready For Biggest Fight Yet
The following is off the AP Newswire:
Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward ready for biggest fight yet
By GREG BEACHAM, AP Sports Writer
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP)â€"Andre Ward believes his boxing career is right on schedule, yet he’s still eager to pick up the pace in his quest to add professional success to his amateur glory.
Ward, the 2004 Olympian who won the United States’ only gold medal in Athens, will meet former super-middleweight title contender Rubin Williams on Thursday night at the Shark Tank. The fight is the toughest yet in Ward’s three-plus years as a pro, and a victory would propel the Oakland native to bigger matchups on the road to a title shot.
Many observers thought such a shot could have happened much earlier, given Ward’s stellar performance in Greece. Highlighted by an exceptional quarterfinal victory over two-time amateur world champion Evgeny Makarenko, Ward became the only American in the last two Olympics to take home a gold medal, once considered a birthright for the nation’s top fighters.
Ward (14-0, 9 KOs) says he never lost the fire from his sparkling amateur career, though he knows his deliberate rise to the top made some people wonder.
“They get this idea that because I won a gold medal, I’ve got a silver spoon in my mouth,” Ward said after a recent workout at King’s Gym, the venerable Oakland fight factory tucked under a freeway in a tough neighborhood.
“That I have no passion or desire to win and beat the best. That I can’t bounce back from adversity. That’s the picture that the public has of somebody who’s won a gold medal, and that’s the furthest thing from the truth.”
Many other recent Olympic greats, from Evander Holyfield to Floyd Mayweather Jr., jumped quickly into lucrative pro careers, fighting for titles within two years of their Olympic feats. The 24-year-old Ward doesn’t apologize for his more deliberate plan.
“It’s a process. It doesn’t happen right away,” Ward said. “I continue to put in the work, and when the lights come on, I’m ready to go.”
Ward has been nurtured by his training staff and management team, which felt he needed physical maturity to go along with his talent. He hasn’t been rushed through injuries or a few inconsistent performances, all with a plan of unleashing a mature fighter on the 168-pound division in his mid-20s.
“He’s a professional now,” said Dan Goossen, Ward’s promoter. “He’s ready to make his mark in the division. He was winning his fights before. Now he’s doing it with exclamation points. … Once you beat Rubin Williams, there’s no turning back. You just go forward and upward from there.”
Though Goossen has exceptional praise for Ward’s work ethic and mental approach, his journey hasn’t been entirely smooth. Ward was knocked down in a win over journeyman Darnell Boone in 2005, and a thumb injury also kept him out of action for seven months in 2006.
But since moving up to 168-pound matches last year, Ward has knocked out his last four opponents, including Roger Cantrell in a fifth-round victory in St. Lucia last November.
Williams (29-3-1, 16 KOs) is a 31-year-old contender with several big fights on his resume, including a seventh-round TKO loss to Jeff Lacy in an IBF title shot and recent disappointments against Antwun Echols and Allan Green. Ward has never fought somebody with Williams’ credentials, but the former Olympian thinks he’s ready to handle it.
“I’m just planning to get the job done and go home to my family,” Ward said. “I’m still forming.”
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