Andre Ward Won’t Throw Chairs, ‘Act Ignorant’ To Promote Sergey Kovalev Rematch

Maybe it wasn't Andre Ward's ideal springtime afternoon, but a little more than two weeks away from his much-anticipated rematch with former unified light heavyweight king Sergey Kovalev, the current WBA, IBF, and WBO champion was hitting the phones.

It was only back in November that Ward (31-0, 15 knockouts) and Kovalev (30-1-1, 26 KOs) failed to reach 200K pay-per-view purchases for their first meeting. So before the pair can climb back into the ring on June 17 in Las Vegas, Ward has been doing his part to chitchat with reporters when he isn't working himself in the gym.

That's not anything new for the somewhat shy 33-year-old Oakland native. It is, however, something that's increasingly necessary now that his unquestioned status as one of the sport's elites is so completely at odds with his impact at the box office.

Ward-Kovalev I, after all, was a fight between two of the best active boxers—and an enjoyable one at that. If not a major commercial success, the fight lived up to expectations inside the ring, where Ward survived a flash knockdown in the second round to ultimately win a controversial unanimous decision. (Kovalev landed 78 power punches to Ward's 61, according to CompuBox, but the latter out-jabbed the former, 55-48. All three judges had a 114-113 edge for Ward).

Since then, Russia's Kovalev has made things personal with Ward, who briefly considered retiring before agreeing to the rematch. The 34-year old suggested Ward is stuck up, frightened, and could actually quit boxing before fight night. There was even a vile video Kovalev tweeted out that included racist and homophobic slurs directed at Ward.

Ward has remained mostly calm and deliberate, which is not unlike his fighting style. The following is an interview with the former Olympic gold medalist in which he discusses the business of boxing, his fear of failure, and gives a few frank assessments of Kovalev:

How is training camp so far?
It's everything camp is supposed to be. I'm feeling good. Injury free. I feel good.

I've heard some things about your training camp. [Olympic silver medalist] Shakur Stevenson said you're extraordinarily serious when you train. You're never joking around, like some guys. You just go in and work, and it won't be until after you're done that you'll crack a smile and start talking to people. Is that the case?
Everybody is different… I can have my fun. I have a few guys at camp to keep me loose and things like that, but I'm very much in my head. That's always been me. When there's work to be done, I kinda get deep in myself. You see that look on my face and people know what that look is. When it's all said and done, I'm ready to have a good time and joke and play. I just take my job serious and that's just my approach. I've seen a lot of guys who are very successful—they joke a lot in camp before they work out, after they work out. It's a preference.

Is that just being driven? Are you worried that if you're too relaxed, you're not training the right way?
It's personality, first and foremost, because I've always kinda been like that. I've aways been a serious kid, a serious-looking kid. I've learned and I'm still learning over the course of my career, to enjoy what I do. You can be focused and take care of business and cross those Ts and dot those Is, but you can enjoy the process. And I'm still working on enjoying the process. I feel like if I'm laughing too much, "Ahh, I'm not focused," sometimes that can be counterproductive—especially when you're in a long training camp.

The drive part of it, I think it was just cultivated over the years with the natural drive and competitiveness that I've already had. My dad was pushing me and my brother, teaching me that, "You're not always gonna feel like doing this, but you have to do it." When you've done that for most of your childhood, most of your young adult life, it just becomes a certain way at a point.

Are you afraid of failing? (Ward has not lost a fight since he was a 12-year-old amateur)
I think that's definitely something. I don't think that's all of it, but there's definitely that to a degree, if I'm being honest.

Unlike other athletes, boxers have to promote themselves too. You're obviously pretty good at the boxing part, but has the promotional side of things been difficult for you?
It's not easy. I'm also not gonna conform and be who some people want me to be. I'm not gonna throw chairs at press conferences. I'm not gonna act ignorant and do certain things just to sell a few more tickets. I mean, I feel like if I can't be myself, if that's not enough, then I don't know what to say. But there's definitely a demand. I just got done working out and I've been doing phone calls for an hour. But I've learned to appreciate and I'm thankful to be doing to what I'm doing, and I appreciate the time [reporters] are taking. You just mature and say: "It's not always something you wanna do, but it's something you need to appreciate and be thankful for," and do it with all you got.

Is Kovalev just trying to promote the rematch or do you think he really feels this intense hatred for you?
I don't know. I definitely think it's some of that involved. But I got to take the man at his word. I'm gonna take him at his word. What I love the most about this sport is that he's got to see me June 17. We got to see each other face to face. There won't be no reporters, there will be no promoters, there will be no trainers. They're getting out of the ring. Then it's me and you. It's my favorite time.

How does this fight compare to the rematch?
I think there's definitely more tension. There's definitely more dislike. You can't fabricate that. That just naturally happened throughout the course of the first fight. All the things that he said post fight, him and his team, and me and my team standing our ground and not buying it. That's part of it.

But of course, there's going to be adjustments made on both sides. And he knows he has to be better. And I have to be better. I take full responsibility for my start the last time around. I'm just looking to put on a tremendous performance. I'm not pointing any fingers. I put the onus on myself to go out there and perform the way I'm supposed to perform and take away all doubt and remove all questions.

Why do you think the pay-per-view numbers for Ward-Kovalev I were disappointing?
I think it was a great crowd. If I'm not mistaken, there was probably 12 or 13 thousand people out there (13,310 officially). As far as the numbers, that's the pay-per-view climate right now. There are two or three guys—maybe four guys—who you can say, "You can put that guy in a pay-per-view against anybody and it's gonna do at least 'X' amount of numbers." That's just not happening right now. I think that's part of it. And his side was the A-side the first time around. There were certain things Roc Nation, my promoter, was trying to implement to try and help the promotion. Those things were kinda batted down and not received. I think that had something to do with it.

And Kovalev isn't the most interesting guy in the world. So it's kind of a one-way street, in terms of the promotion. So maybe some of the stuff he's said this time will help.

We have Gennady Golovkin-Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in September and we're coming off of two great fights in England, Anthony Joshua-Wladimir Klitschko and Errol Spence Jr.-Kell Brook. There seems to be a lot of good things happening around boxing in 2017. Are you optimistic about the sport?
I've kinda always been optimistic about it. I've never really bought the narrative that boxing is dying. Boxing has been around long before I was here, and I think it will be around long after I leave. I think you just go through ebbs and flows. I think there's politics in boxing. Some of the bigger players, sometimes they butt heads, and that puts things on hold. Things happen. I think if you're married to the sport and you love watching the sport, you got to deal with the highs and the lows. But I don't think boxing is going anywhere. I think it's on an uptick, and there's a lot of great things happening, and I'm just happy to be a part of it.

In the past, guys like you and Kovalev would have avoided each other for years, instead racking up purses while beating inferior opponents. There suddenly seems to be a desire to make better matchups. Is that part of it?
I think personally that's kinda always been my approach. If you look at my career: I stepped up and fought Edison Miranda (2009, unanimous decision), then I fought Mikkel Kessler (2009, technical decision); I fought contenders in between there, and top contenders. I don't think I've had a soft touch since 2009. That's just kinda the school I came from personally. But you see a lot of other guys in other weight classes saying, 'enough of this,' because [boxing] went through a season where guys weren't fighting each other for whatever reason. Now, I think it's the natural course of things. Not only are the fans clamoring for it, but the fighters are clamoring for it. We're competitors. There's a place for tuneups and fighting a contender instead of a champion—there is, from a monetary standpoint. But from a career-legacy standpoint, I want to face that other guy with the other belt. I want to appease the fans, but I also want to see where I'm at. It should be in every fighter, and you're just seeing it come to the forefront right now.

What's the best part about being a world-class boxer?
Obviously there's a lot of benefits in terms of your sphere of influence. There's a lot of great things that come your way. I think your sphere of influence is the coolest thing. Just being a guy that people can reach out to, being a person that when you speak, hopefully some people are listening. And being able to make an impact. When I see people on the street, [and they say], 'Oh my God, you're Andre Ward,' you see people in tears, that kinda stuff, you never get used to. I try to go events and speak and try to be a blessing to people or be a blessing to the youth. The platform I have, and being able to use to that to better people's lives, and try to help them in whatever way that I can— even fighters—that's the coolest part of what I do.

(Ward is known as a mentor within the sport, and is heavily involved with a number of charities, including Knock Out Dogfighting. He also speaks to at-risk youth in his native Oakland as well as other cities)

What's the worst part?
There's a lot of sacrifice to be a great fighter. If you look at last year, I had three fights and I was at training camp six months out of the year. Don't get me wrong, I'm competing in a sport that I competed in as a child, and I'm getting a king's ransom for it, and that's definitely a benefit. But being away from my family—I'm very family oriented and I don't like missing things in my kids' lives—that's probably the hardest personal thing for me.

Generally speaking, for any top athlete, it's just dealing with the trappings, the pitfalls, and everything that can happen—especially in 2017. You can't sneeze or jaywalk and have it not be recorded. You got to make sure you're doing the right things out there.