A week from today perhaps the best pure boxer in prizefighting knows what many people will be hoping for him when he steps into the ring to face a unified light heavyweight champion known to the world as ?Krusher.? They?ll want Sergey Kovalev to live up to that nickname at his expense.
?I would say that?s a very accurate assessment,? undefeated former super middleweight champion Andre Ward said last week when asked if he understood not everyone is a fan of his defense-oriented fistic style. ?I know they want blood, they want me knocked down and staggered. I?ve studied this sport for many years and if you look at old footage of Roy Jones, Bernard Hopkins and old interviews and footage of Floyd Mayweather; it?s the same kind of things that were said about them and those three guys are legends and Hall of Famers.
?I just think, taking me out of the equation just as a whole, boxing has never been about one thing. In this day and age, the public is sold that if it isn?t a knockdown drag out fight and one guy?s ear isn?t hanging off then it wasn?t worth your time or money and I don?t think that?s fair to the fighters or fair to the fans. . . .
?You can?t be worried about that because you understand that some people get it and some people won?t, but you have to do what you have to do. Some people won?t like it, but some people will.?
In Ward?s case, most people don?t, but that?s partly because most people haven?t often seen him box. Despite a 30-0 record and having emerged as the winner of Showtime?s two-year long Super 6 tournament to crown a unified 168-pound champion, Ward has been sighted about as often as Sasquatch the last few years.
This is the first time in nearly five years Ward has boxed more than once in a year. Since easily outpointing then WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch 51⁄2 years ago to win the Super 6, he has fought only five times and his last two foes were little more than tomato cans, and that?s probably insulting the cans with that comparison.
Ward?s long absences have been the result of both injury and seemingly endless promotional squabbles, including one with promoter Dan Goossen in which he basically tried to sit out a contract that was twice ruled legally valid. Eventually, after Goossen?s death, he bought his way out of the deal and now fights (if you call it that) under rapper Jay Z?s Roc Nation promotional banner. But outside of the cognoscenti, Ward remains a little known and possibly underappreciated enigma.
There are many things odd about Ward?s slow climb in boxing, but not the least is that at 32, and after being a world champion for the past 71⁄2 years, he has never fought in Las Vegas, the mecca of boxing.
That will change Saturday when he squares off with Kovalev, the unified champion who holds the WBA, IBF and WBO versions of the 175-pound title and a reputation as one of boxing?s toughest fighters..
?I?ve definitely tried to make it happen,? the Oakland, Calif., native said when asked about his absence from Las Vegas. ?Being close to Vegas in theory, I feel it should it have happened. I always wanted to fight in New York City at Madison Square Garden or at the Barclays Center, but it just didn?t happen for one reason or another. I?m just glad that (Vegas) is happening right now and what better time than at this stage of my career?
?You just got to trust the guy with the plan. It?s not always going to be what you want it to be or would like it to be, but I can?t argue with the way the table is set right now. I?m just excited about seizing this moment.?
One can certainly question his business plan, if he truly ever had one. Refusing paydays in exchange for paying lawyers to fight for you without ever winning seems an odd way to get to Vegas, yet that is the path Ward chose. Regardless, he at last has what the boxing world believes is his big night as his time to seize that moment dwindles. For Ward, to lose is to very likely disappear for back into boxing?s shadows.
While Ward (30-0, 15 KOS) has languished, Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs) won eight title defenses after first winning the WBO championship by stopping Welshman Nathan Cleverly in Cardiff, Wales, on Aug. 17, 2013. Kovalev has fought more than twice as often as Ward since and become a fan favorite despite being in a division that generally goes ignored. He accomplished that in large part because his aggressive style is the polar opposite of Ward?s more artistic but less exciting defensive approach.
That has put all the more pressure on Ward to perform in this moment.
?Mentally it?s honestly (all) the same to me,? Ward said. ?Obviously, there?s a lot at stake and it?s a different challenge moving up in weight, pay-per-view, all of those things make it a little bit different. Whether it?s Alexander Brand or Sergey Kovalev, I approach every situation the same way. I wouldn?t be able to get to this level and stay at this level if I checked in and checked out. It?s the same dedication and it?s the same work.
?At the end of the day, personally we don?t approach the fight being enamored with anything a (foe) does well. We acknowledge it and we respect it and we understand what we?re up against, but I been in the ring with big punchers, good boxers, you name it. At the end of the day, to be a champion you have to be able to beat whatever?s in front of you and Kovalev is not just a big puncher. He?s a boxer. He?s a thinker. . . . They call me a great boxer or a great neutralizer, but there?s so much more going on with me than that.
?If I was just about defense and neutralizing, then a lot of these big punchers would just try to walk through me and there?s a reason they?re not. But that?s what fight night is all about. It?s not about talking about it to try to prove your case, it?s about the opportunity to be great on Nov. 19.
?It?s not about making unnecessary moves. It?s about making the necessary moves when you need to make them. It?s about rising to the occasion and being in the moment. We specialize in that.?
While Ward may be a mystery to all but the most hardcore boxing fans, one thing is undeniable. Throughout his career he has risen to the occasion, dating back to the 2004 Olympics in Athens, where he became what has proven to be the last American boxer to win a gold medal.
He was not the most highly touted team member but in the end he was the one who left with gold. Same was true when the Super 6 tournament began. He was not favored over champions such as Mikkel Kessler, Arthur Abraham and Froch, but when the dust settled he was the last man standing. Can he do the same again now that he?s finally reached Las Vegas? If he wants to be remembered the way he says he does, he better.
Your vote matters
If you haven?t had enough of electoral politics, you can weigh in on your choice for Showtime?s all-time best knockout. A knockout bracket consisting of 32 of the most dramatic and memorable KOs of the past 30 years began earlier this month with the winner revealed during the ?Showtime Championship Boxing? card on Dec. 10.
The 32 candidates are broken into four divisions ? heavyweights, middleweights, welterweights and the lighter weight divisions. In the opening round of the heavyweight division, former undisputed champion Evander Holyfield squared off with current WBC champ Deontay Wilder, while Felix Trinidad took on former champ Lucas Matthysse in the welterweight division.
The 16 matchups in the round of 32 can be seen at showtimeknockouts.com.
Winners advance to the next round of voting beginning tomorrow. Subsequent rounds will continue over the next six weeks.
Short jabs
Manny Pacquiao made clear after easily defeating Jesse Vargas to win the WBO welterweight title a week ago that he is still seeking a rematch with Mayweather. ?Money? was in a ringside seat provided by Pacquiao fueling speculation the two might meet in 2017 even though Mayweather is retired.
?Not only for myself, but the fans of boxing (who) want the rematch, why not?? Pacquiao said the day after his win over Vargas. ?We can easily talk about that. It is not a problem. Because we now have direct contact to them, it would be easier to talk about when there will be a rematch.? . . .
Former Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer is back in the fight game after signing his first two boxers, 2016 Olympian Carlos Balderas and his brother, Jose. Schaefer?s new promotional company, Ringstar Promotions, is co-promoting Showtime?s Dec. 10 show with longtime friend Al Haymon, using a lineup of Haymon fighters with whom Schaefer has no promotional affiliation. . . .
You have to give credit to Mauricio Sulaiman, who since taking over the WBC presidency from his late father Jose, has embarked on a number of efforts to clean up the sport. The latest is implementation of his Clean Boxing Program, which is aimed at getting performance enhancing drugs out of the sport. As promised, the WBC recently dropped 25 boxers from its rankings for failing to enroll in the testing program. Among the biggest names were former world champions David Haye, Jean Pascal, Amir Khan, Lamont Peterson, Yuriorkis Gamboa and Felix Verdejo. The WBC now insists all its champions and anyone ranked in the top 15 agree to random testing and agree be available for testing at any time. . . .
Record-setting two-time U.S. Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields makes her pro debut on the Ward-Kovalev undercard. She will face former amateur rival Franchon Crews, who is also making her pro debut, in a four-round super middleweight fight. Shields is the first American boxer, male or female, to win two Olympic gold medals.
