By Norm Frauenheim-
Nearly twelve years have come and gone since Andre Ward won America’s last Olympic gold medal in boxing, yet there’s a sense he’s still unknown among casual fans who know all about Floyd Mayweather Jr., know a little about Manny Pacquiao and remember Mike Tyson.
Mayweather sells cash and controversy. Pacquiao sells a naïve smile, his role as a man-of-the-Filipino people and some controversy of his own lately with comments about same-sex marriage. Tyson sold fear.
For them, it has been a business model, a way to unlock the pay-per-view vault. Through design or just dumb luck, they figured out how to achieve the kind of celebrity that makes them more than a boxer and puts them on a list a lot more valuable than any rating. Dollar-for-dollar or pound-for-pound? Any bets on where Ward would rather be ranked? Forbes or The Ring?
But he’s never been on Forbes’ annual list of the highest earning athletes, despite his pound-for-pound credentials, mostly because he’s never been a pay-per-view headliner.
Perhaps, that’s because of inactivity brought on by injuries and a promotional lawsuit, or stubborn pride, or just his unerring competency over a couple decades. He hasn’t lost a fight since he was 12 years old. Mistakes attract attention, especially these days, and Ward (28-0, 15 KOs) just doesn’t make many on either side of the ropes. He’s hard to know. Harder to beat.
Now 32 and the clock ticking on his prime, he embarks on a stage of his career defined by a last chance to become the pay-per-view star that everyone thought he would be after he stepped off the medal stand at the Athens Games.
It begins Saturday in hometown Oakland on HBO (9:45 pm ET/PT) in his debut at light-heavyweight against former Cuban amateur Sullivan Barrera (17-0, 12 KOs), whose record and size suggests his welcome to 175 pounds could be a tough one.
“We did not pick him because he’s a soft touch,’’ Ward said at a media workout. “We picked him because he was going to get me ready and show me what this weight class is all about. If you look at my career, there’s a place for tune-ups, which I haven’t had a lot of. You want to fight the best and if you aren’t fighting the best, you want to fight the No. 1 contender. That’s what we’re doing.’’
What Ward is doing is testing his readiness for Sergey Kovalev, the feared holder of most of the light-heavyweight belts and a Russian fighting to get his own foothold in America’s PPV market. Kovalev, who is expected to be ringside at Oracle Arena, and Ward have an agreement to fight, perhaps in November and presumably on HBO’s pay-per-view.
It’s a projected fight that has fans more interested in combinations than celebrity drooling in anticipation. With the Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin possibility looking as if it will be placed in a Mayweather-Pacquiao-like delay because of Canelo’s continuing insistence on a 155-pound catch-weight, Ward-Kovalev is the biggest fight out there.
The question is just how big it could be. Hints at an answer will be in how Ward does against Barrera, whose promoter, Main Events, also promotes Kovalev. Ward’s singular brilliance has been absent from the ring’s stage, in part because of injuries that are surely causing some sleepless nights at HBO, Main Events and his own promoter, Roc Nation.
He fought and beat Carl Froch at 168 pounds in 2011 with a hand that was broken in two places during sparring. Surgery on his right shoulder forced the cancellation of a planned bout with Kelly Pavlik in 2013. A knee injury forced him off the PPV card featuring Canelo’s victory over Miguel Cotto on Nov. 21.
His history of injuries and his introduction to 175 pounds against someone with 12 stoppages in 17 fights add up to a reason for concern. The guess here is that his command of the ring and versatile skillset will be too much for the tough Barrera. Ward wins.
But he needs to do more than just that. He needs to emerge unscathed and able to fight on in a way that will remind fans of where he has been.
And where he is going.
