Andre ?S.O.G.? Ward comes across like this Saturday is the day he takes his family on a dream vacation.
The 32-year-old, who fights WBO, WBA and IBF light heavyweight world champion Sergey ?Krusher? Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs) on that day at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada has been full of good cheer in the days before the bout. He?s quick to joke about football, show with a smile that he has one Adele song ? the chart-topping ?Hello? ? on his iPhone.
?One thing I?ve been trying to do more enjoy the process,? Ward (30-0, 15 KOs) said recently at a media event in the San Francisco Bay Area. ?Of course there?s hard work and sacrifice and all that, but I can and I do enjoy all of this more than I used to.?
Time?s passing ? and the knowledge that the end draws ever nearer ? has had its effects, Ward acknowledged.
?I don?t know how much long I?ll be doing this, but it won?t be that much longer; I definitely won?t be doing this when I?m 40,? the father of four said. ?I?m more and more aware that I don?t have many fights left; I don?t have many camps left. I think people who know me know I?m going to work as hard as ever and do it right, but I can do that and enjoy it while it?s happening.?
It?s easier to enjoy it all and generally smile more thanks to being able to eat more now in the wake of moving up from 168 pounds to 175 pounds, Ward said.
?That makes a real difference,? he said. ?Think about how you feel when you haven?t eaten and you?re hungry.?
Seeing young fighters has given Ward some eye-opening perspective, too, he?s realized.
?Having young guys like (19-year-old 2016 Olympian) Shakur Stevenson around, it starts to make me feel old because I used to be that guy at Roy Jones?s camp, Floyd Mayweather?s camp, hanging around Bernard Hopkins,? he said. ?You see yourself in them. It?s a little weird, because you?re like, ?Man, now I?m the OG.??
And his body lets him know it, Ward acknowledged, much as his mind tends to tell him otherwise.
?I feel great and I always want to go 100 miles an hour, but my trainer reins me in,? said Ward, who fought Sullivan Barrera in March and Alexander Brand in August. ?He?ll say, ?We?re sparring six rounds today and that?s it,? or, ?We?re gonna be in the gym for 90 minutes and get out of there,? and he?s making the right calls.?
If the body?s older, the mind?s wiser, Ward said.
?As you get older, it?s about becoming more efficient,? he said. ?I?ve heard some people say that I?m not the same fighter that I was when I was in my 20?s and I hope I?m not. I should be getting better and more efficient; that?s what it?s about. It?s not about making unnecessary moves. It?s about making the necessary moves when you need to make them.?
After 30 professional fights, the learning process for each fight has become quicker, Ward has found.
?As I?ve gotten older, I watch less film,? he said. ?I don?t need to see 10 fights to see tendencies and certain things. I know what I need to see. I may go back and watch a round here and there, but I try and leave room for my instincts. I?m very instinctual. You?ve got to be able to think on the fly thinking on the highest level. I leave room for that. It?s not a checklist you go down. You can?t get into a ring thinking like that. I just believe that who I am and what I have is enough, and that?s what I?m standing on.?
It will take that quality of judgment, discipline and focus against Kovalev, Ward said.
?He?s a boxer. He?s a thinker. He understands range, positioning and different things like that. There?s a lot more to him than just being a big puncher.?
There is the physical side of dealing with that, and perhaps more importantly, the mental side, Ward added.
?However he wants to bring it, we?ve got our game plan and it?s about making constant adjustments, the ebbs and flows and who wants it the most is what it?s going to boil down to.?
