ANDRE WARD is chasing greatness and has confirmed that he wants a showdown with ferocious world light-heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev. Speaking inside the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, the affable star also revealed that he didnโt believe a fight against Gennady Golovkin will happen, despite pursuing that contest in the past.
The former super-middleweight king, who was due to fight on the undercard of Miguel Cotto-Canelo Alvarez until a swollen knee ruled him out, has recently signed a โlucrativeโ three-fight deal with Roc Nation, and hopes the final contest of that agreement will be against Kovalev.
โItโs not going to be easy,โ Ward said about beating the fearsome 175lb king. โFrom a technical standpoint heโs going to be who he has always been and thatโs good enough for him. I donโt think heโs seen a fight that he didnโt like [didnโt want to take]. Heโs like, โLetโs goโ. And thatโs a dangerous individual. I feel like there is purpose in this move up to 175 and to put it as simply as I can, I just want to be great. All the greats did what Iโm doing. Bernard [Hopkins] did it [moved up in weight]. Floyd [Mayweather] did it. Roy [Jones] did it. And many others outside of them did it. It is a risk and whether I get credit for it or not is not important, itโs about knowing that I took that leap.
โThe deal I signed [with Roc Nation] is very lucrative but that aside, itโs about my legacy,โ Ward continued. โIt is about cementing my legacy because Iโm not going to box forever, nor can I, nor do I want to. So these are the chances Iโve got to take. But Iโm not going in there just hoping I get by, Iโm going to bring it, the way that I bring it. Hey, people say I have a bullseye on my back, but Iโm looking at the same guy whoโs looking at me and theyโre pointing at me. Iโve got my sights on them and theyโve got their sights on me. Weโve just got to see what happens.
โI think this fight [with Kovalev] will be one of the best fights that boxing has seen in a long time. How good? I donโt know. The matchup on paper, his rรฉsumรฉ and my rรฉsumรฉ, it has the makings of a great fight and now weโve got to get out there and make it happen.โ
Wardโs progress over the last two years has been slowed by injuries and a lawsuit with deceased promoter, Dan Goossen. During that time, the career of middleweight terror Gennady Golovkin gathered pace and resulted in many fans calling for a showdown with the then-super middleweight No.1.
โThat wasnโt going to be an easy fight for me,โ the 31-year-old said about โGGGโ. โHeโs a good fighter. But look at his rรฉsumรฉ, itโs about levels. Is he really that good? We donโt know. He donโt even know how good he is and none of us do until youโve faced a certain level of competition. I wanted that fight for the sport of boxing because wherever I went, that was the name that I heard that people wanted me to fight. I didnโt have the luxury to come up with some excuses. I put my best foot forward [to try and make that fight] and to this day I still get asked, โDid you really want to fight him?โ I put it out there as many times as I could [that I wanted that fight]. Itโs unfortunate that boxing missed that fight. But weโll survive. Weโll move on. It happens.โ
Ward has grown tired of the criticisms surrounding his layoff, and fighting style, but has grown to understand that the things that matter in life are those closest to you, like his wife, his children, and his friends. He revealed he was ready to walk away from the sport recently, and even brought up a draft of his retirement speech on his phone to show reporters.
The gifted stylist โ often accused of being a negative fighter โ has been aware of the bitterness from certain sections of the media, and public, since his 2009 breakout win over the heavily favoured Mikkel Kessler.
โIt was the biggest fight of my life and then Iโm reading things that I was a dirty fighter,โ Ward recalled. โI was reading things that I didnโt like. It was the same guy [writer] who said I didnโt have a shot who was then saying I won because I was fighting dirty? This was my moment. They threw me to the wolves and I showed them that I could fight back and I beat him [Kessler], but Iโm reading it was because of this, and because of that. Okay.โ
Through it all, Ward has just wanted to fight. He has always wanted to be the very best he can be, and fight the best fighters he can. The stop-start nature of his recent career has frustrated no one more than him, but he believes โ strongly โ that he will go on to achieve all that was expected of him.
โPeople say, โYouโre wasting your careerโ. Okay, Iโve had some delays but letโs look at the end of the story and see how it goes,โ advised the 2004 Olympic champion. โI look at like a two-year rest. I know this is the beginning of the end. That end may come in three years, five years, seven years, I donโt know but retirement and legacy are things that are never at the back of my mind, theyโre always at the front of my mind.
โI want to be in the ring, just like anybody else. Whether thereโs been an injury or the lawsuit situation, as fortunate as they are, thatโs life. I think sometimes we put champions on a pedestal and weโre like, โLife is perfect! Look at these guys shine!โ But thereโs peaks and thereโs valleys and Iโm a firm believer that sometimes those valleys are more valuable than the peaks. When I couldnโt work, when I couldnโt make a living, I was in the gym with Virgilโs guys โ like [Andre] Berto, like [Amir] Khan, like [Alfredo] Angulo โ and theyโre like, โWhy are you in the gym?โ Iโm like, โMan. Iโm just trying to stay readyโ. I know what that feels like so to be able to get back, Iโve got a different appreciation for the game. I really had to test the dedication that I say that I have. You donโt know when this [inactivity] is going to be over. Are you still going to go the gym? Are you still going to eat right? Those are the personal lessons that are going to last me a lifetime if I respond the right way. I just want to give a public service announcement: I donโt think my career is over, contrary to popular belief. The reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. I think that I have a lot left in the tank, and I think that the ending is going to be just the way itโs supposed to be.โ