Sunday night’s World Series of Boxing event between the L.A. Matadors and the Miami Gallos saw a new addition this week: super middleweight champ Andre Ward was ringside working alongside Alan Massengale as a commentator. The fight card was held in a new venue, Avalon Hollywood, a nightclub in the heart of Hollywood. The venue and fight card perfectly suited each other as the room was tight but not too much so. The crowd was young and attractive and most likely getting their first exposure to live violence. Not out of place was Ward, a gold medal winner for the U.S. back in 2004 and now the frontrunner to win the “Super Six World Boxing Classic: the Super Middleweights” on Showtime.
“Commentating is something that I’ve wanted to do for a very long time,” Ward told me late Monday from his home in the Bay Area. “Now I am getting the opportunity to do it; that’s the only way I can develop this skill is by getting the reps. I had a blast last night. Also, just being around those athletes and talking to them and encouraging them. It was just a great night.”
Ward has long wanted to do this job and with his analytical mind and articulate speech, he is a natural for it on paper (Full disclosure, I have yet to hear his taping, which will air February 8 on the Versus network).
“I’ve done some interviews at ringside but this was the first time sitting at the table,” said Ward. “There are a lot of nuances and small intricate things you have to get used to, a producer talking in your ear while you trying to finish your point while you are trying to understanding that your mic is still on or live and you are still taping, so you stop talking. I did that a few times. I looked over at Alan and he kept talking, continued to finish his point. That was one big thing and just learning how to articulate your points. How to get in there without rushing but not dragging through your comments, a lot of small things you really only get by doing it, Gabe. I was excited. Next time, I think I will be even better. Hopefully, I will be able to come back February 24, the day after my birthday, right back in L.A. and then right back again March 11. I just want to perfect this thing. It is something I would like to do while I am still boxing and obviously when I retire.”
Beyond just being an example to the young fighters in the WSB as a model fighter, Ward is a great example of what they are all fighting for. The winners in each weight division’s individual championships will go on to the Olympics. Being around a champion on several levels as Ward is can be invaluable to them.
“I think it’s good. There are always pros and cons to everything,” said Ward of the WSB. “Just focusing on the good part, from a professional standpoint, this gives these kids a tremendous head start that I didn’t have, when they do turn professional. Similar to Sugar Ray Leonard and those guys from ’76, who fought their whole career without headgear before the pro game. They get to make money. They get to support their families or whatever the case may be. They get medical and get their living expenses taken care of. And they get to continue to train hard, focus on their goals, and keep improving. I mean, it’s one thing to tell a kid to stay out of trouble and focus on boxing when it doesn’t pay anything but it’s a whole other thing to put some money in their pocket and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to help push you through.’ So I think from that standpoint, it’s a tremendous thing, a tremendous idea.”
I asked Ward if he felt it would serve as a solid bridge to the pros and if, as a result of this semi-pro style, it would make for better pro fighters in the long run.
“I think it definitely could,” said Ward. “Absolutely. They are learning a lot earlier. The thing is, it’s actually harder; that’s why we are seeing so many headbutts so far in the WSB. Just because when you turn professional, you are picking and choosing who you want to fight. A lot of guys that come from the amateur program, they’re having their way for the first year, two years, even longer than that sometimes. You really don’t worry about headgear while you are working on the transition of fighting without the headgear. These guys [in the WSB] are having to work on the transition but also they are fighting another top-flight guy from another country or from the States. So there it’s a lot harder for them and that’s why I think we are seeing a lot of cuts and things from these fights.”
The talk turned to his upcoming bout with Arthur Abraham. As of tonight, a venue is not secured but the date of May 14 on Showtime has been set.
“May 14 is my date,” said Ward of his upcoming fight with Arthur Abraham in the next stage of the ‘Super Six.’ “Glen Johnson is the week after. Manny Pacquiao is the week before on Showtime. There are a few venues [promoter] Dan [Goossen] is looking at and I am just waiting to hear about that itself. Abraham is taking a tune-up fight. If he needs some mental reconstruction that is on him, we are fine. We continue to train hard and we will be ready.”
Ward was upfront about his feelings regarding Arthur Abraham’s decision to take a non “Super Six” tune-up bout February 12 in Germany. Abraham has had a rough go of things with a disqualification loss to Andre Dirrell (who was beating him before Abraham hit him while he was down) and a straight-up ass-kicking at the hands of Carl Froch in back-to-back bouts. The tune-up bout would appear to be Abraham in panic mode, as to how to fix his losing ways. Ward sees it as simply a danger to the fight scheduled in the “Super Six” tourney.
“It worries me,” admitted Ward. “There is a lot at stake here. From a promotional standpoint, he is not supposed to be able to do this. I don’t understand why he is able to do it. The contracts are clear. In fine print, it says we are not allowed to take any interim fights. You can’t just jump up and take a tune-up fight when we feel like it. It is not within the tournament structure or approved by Showtime, like mine was with [Sakio] Bika, which was a unique situation with Bika where it was an out-of-tournament fight. We didn’t push for that; it just happened. We didn’t have an opponent to fight so we had to make something happen. It’s a huge concern because anything can happen. There are huge ramifications at stake for these semifinals and finals. I just think I don’t see why they would move forward with it.”
There has been a lot of criticism toward Ward and his team, as their last three bouts have been at home. What many fail to realize, as Ward pointed out, was that two of these bouts were against opponents not originally in the “Super Six.” One of the bouts, against Sakio Bika, was a sanctioned-by-Showtime, non-“Super Six” bout that served as a replacement fight for Andre Dirrell, who dropped out, citing neurological issues. That Ward fought in Oakland, his hometown, where he generally draws very well (the Bika fight being an exception), made sense at the time.
“We’ve been able to make the adjustments and that’s the important thing,” said Ward. “I think what fans need to understand when they talk about my hometown fights and things like that, you have to understand that [Mikkel] Kessler, he was the favorite coming into the ‘Super Six’ and Abraham was the close second. Kessler was very cocky and so was his team. They felt like they could come to Oakland and still defend the title and the rest is history but if you look at the next two fights (Allan Green and Sakio Bika), not taking anything away from my opponents but that’s a hard sell anywhere else. I think from a financial standpoint and a business standpoint, as well as for the greater good of the tournament to see people in the stands on TV, it made all the sense in the world to come to Oakland. I think people need to see the totality of everything and not just see, ‘Oh, they are cheating for Ward. All his fights are at home.’ Well, Ward is also the only guy with two replacement fights. Everybody else in the tournament got to fight who was on paper and who they signed to fight in the contract and I didn’t get that opportunity.
“Adjustments were made but I can honestly say that being at home did not play a role in the outcome of the fights in terms of the judges and referees.”
We briefly jumped topics to the recent Tim Bradley vs. Devon Alexander fight..
“I was happy about that fight,” said Ward, “because you have two undefeated guys. I think it was good for the sport. A lot of people are upset about the way it ended. It kind of is what it is.”
I asked Ward about that ending, specifically, what he felt about the criticism leveled at Devon Alexander and all the people who feel he quit at the moment of truth.
“I think it was unfortunate,” said Ward of the ending. “I just came off a fight where there were a lot of headbutts and a lot of elbows thrown from a guy who intentionally did it. I can’t really say Bradley did it intentionally. That happens when a left-handed fighter fights a right-handed fighter. It was just unfortunate as a whole the way it ended because you are looking for that climax, see who finishes strong down the stretch. But you have to take a fighter at his word because I have been headbutted and it does sting and it does burn. When you feel like that, sometimes everything else goes out the window. So if that guy feels like he can’t open his eyes…I never heard him say he didn’t want to continue. He just said, ‘I’m having trouble seeing.’ Now that can obviously mean something else to the ring doctor but, you know, Devon is a friend of mine. I know him and I can’t say he got this far, through all he has gone through, by being a quitter. Bradley did what he had to do and got the belt and maybe these guys can meet down the road.”
We switched back to Abraham and I asked him if he expects Abraham to be any different, tune-up fight or not. Abraham is a slow starter to an extreme who uses a shell defense and bludgeoning power to get the job done. Against Jermain Taylor, that worked. Against Andre Dirrell and Carl Froch, it backfired horribly, as both men learned from Taylor’s mistakes and boxed rather than stay in front of Abraham. Against a pure boxer like Ward, change will be necessary. But is it possible?
“I see him being highly prepared,” said Ward of Abraham. “But I don’t see him coming in any different. He can’t take six months and do a tune-up…I don’t think he will be different. I don’t fight in the same style as these other guys. I’m a different cup of tea but he has been fighting this way for so long you can’t just change. He’s fought this way for many, many years and been successful. I’m not saying he can’t make some adjustments but, as a whole, he is going to be the same Arthur Abraham. I don’t know if it’s a conditioning issue where he is not confident opening up early on or if he just doesn’t want to engage early on because the other guy is. It could be a lot of reasons but I am going to see the same Arthur Abraham and he will see the same Andre Ward and we will just have to see which fighter is going to be better on the night of May 14.”
As we neared the end of our call, I asked Ward his thoughts on the recent move by Bob Arum and Top Rank over to Showtime. While the deal is not exclusive, meaning not all of Top Rank’s fights will be on Showtime, it does signal the beginning of a time of great competition for the best fighters possible between the two top networks in the sport.
“I think at the moment, it is just a testament to what Showtime is doing,” said Ward. “I think the ‘Super Six’ has brought a lot of attention to Showtime as well as the 118 [pound] tournament, ‘Fight Camp 360,’ all this stuff. To say the least, Showtime has really stepped their game up. I think it benefits everyone who is fighting on Showtime but HBO will fight strong and still put on great fights. I think it’s healthy competition for both networks. It’s good for the greater good of the sport.”
For now, as he waits out the days before training camp and hopes for a positive outcome to the Abraham fight, Ward trains up in Oakland with trainer Virgil Hunter.
“We’re definitely training,” said Ward. “I am in the gym three to four days a week. I am working on my strength and conditioning. I am doing all my mental work for Abraham so we are going to be on cruise control until we get into training camp and put the finishing touches on it.”
Before we got off the phone, I remembered an image from Sunday night’s show. At one point, Evander Holyfield sat next to Ward and did some commentary work. Watching the two men, I remembered that Ward had once told me he wanted someday to fight for the heavyweight title. Seeing him after the fights, I noticed he seemed a bit bigger than usual. Maybe it was the suit but for the first time, I thought to myself, “He might be able to pull off heavyweight with the right fight.”
So does Ward still dream of being a heavyweight?
“Yeah I do,” Ward laughed. “I know it sounds crazy right now. It sounds absurd but if you look at the way Roy did it, I can see myself doing something like that. I really do. Obviously, it would be the right fight. I wouldn’t be campaigning as a heavyweight but, yeah. I’m getting old, Gabe. I’ll be 27 next month so as you get older, you start gaining more weight and different things like that and that is definitely something I want to do. That would be the pinnacle of my career.”
You can email Gabriel at maxgmontoya@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/gabriel_montoya and catch him on each Monday’s episode of “The Next Round” with Steve Kim or tune into hear him live on Thursdays at 5-8 PM PST when he co-hosts the BlogTalk radio show Leave-It-In-The-Ring.com. Gabriel is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. * Special Thanks
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