Andre Ward Embracing His Inner 'Monster' and Eyeing Return to Glory

Andre Ward is quite familiar with jabs, crosses and hooks, thank you.

In fact, none of the 28 men he’s faced in the ring has beaten him, and few have gotten close.

But when it comes to shots outside his comfort zone—injuries, surgeries and promotional disputes, for example—the former Olympic and professional kingpin concedes to vulnerability.

“There were plenty of times I wanted to give up,” he told Bleacher Report. “There were plenty of times that I wanted to walk away from the sport because I didn’t sign up for lawsuits. I didn’t sign up for that kind of thing. But then you’ve got to remind yourself, 'Hey man, this is life.' Sometimes as athletes we just want to be up, we always want to show everybody all the good stuff.

“I was glad that my fans got to see that I was around the sport, they could reach out and touch me and ask me about it because that’s the reality of life. You’ve got to deal with that.”

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

The California native dealt with myriad issues during an intermittent stretch in which he’s fought just twice—out-pointing Edwin Rodriguez and TKO-ing Paul Smith—since the beginning of 2013.

A shoulder surgery and knee injury were among the physical maladies, while a contract battle with promoter Dan Goossen and family yielded litigation and defamation before finally ending early last year.

Still, now that it’s passed, the 32-year-old Ward claims the benefit is a competitive fire relit.

“I’ve been able to pass that two-year lesson on to a lot of young fighters that I’ve been in contact with and I’m going to pass that stuff on to my kids,” he said. “So I embrace the good and the bad and it’s all just made me into a monster and made me a lot hungrier.”

He can focus that appetite Saturday in the direction of Sullivan Barrera—who’s two years older, two inches taller and just as unbeaten, though his resume has far fewer worthwhile names. Ward and Barrera will fight at 9:45 p.m. ET on HBO. 

Ward is ranked third at 175 pounds by the Independent World Boxing Rankings and fourth as a pound-for-pounder by The Ring. Barrera, an ex-world junior champion, is slotted No. 21 by the London-based organization at light heavyweight and ignored entirely by the self-proclaimed "Bible of Boxing."

Precisely no one, though, believes the Cuban is Ward’s entree of choice.

A tentative agreement is set to land him a November date with Russian slugger Sergey Kovalev, who owns three belts in the weight class and looms two spots above the American on The Ring's P4P list.

Kovalev hasn’t lost in 30 pro outings and has stopped 26 foes inside the distance, but Ward believes his own developmental arc places him near the neighborhood that Floyd Mayweather Jr. occupied as he transformed from a frenetic 20-something dynamo into a calculating 30-something technician.

“You look at a young 20-year-old Floyd and he’s moving all over the ring, and then you see Floyd in his 30s and he’s moving just enough. That’s the zone that I’m getting into right now,” Ward said. “I hope I’m getting better. I’m very hard on myself personally. But looking at my performances in the gym and different things like that, given the layoffs, I’m pleased.

Tim Larsen/Associated Press

“It could always be better, but I feel like I’m in the middle of my prime right now. Not looking behind too much, really just focused on the future and I like what I’m seeing in the gym. I like what I see in my fights. And I just think I’m evolving into a more mature fighter.”

Kovalev, who’s 10 months older and has a slightly longer reach (72 ½" to 71") than Ward, is typically perceived as the stronger and more dangerous offensive operator of the two.

He’s spent his entire career fighting between 173 and 183.5 pounds, while Ward maxed out at 171.75 against Smith last June and was actually below 160 pounds for his fifth and sixth pro fights in 2005.

He faced the one opponent he and Kovalev share, Darnell Boone, in his seventh fight.

Ward weighed 160 when he got off the floor to win a unanimous six-round decision over Boone in 2005, while Kovalev eked out a split eight-round decision against him at 174.75 pounds in 2010 before returning to stop him in two rounds at 173.5 in 2012.

The contrast in style between Ward and Kovalev ensures that at least one light heavyweight expert will be keeping a close eye on things Saturday night while looking ahead to the fall.

“I still feel Ward is a tough out because I haven't seen anyone really take the play from him in a fight,” Antonio Tarver, a former holder of the division’s IBF, IBO, WBA and WBC titles, told Bleacher Report.

“I mean, have a sustained offense against him, hit him with hard, unexpected shots. He's kept everything right in front of him. So I'm curious to know and see. Can he wipe a guy out that's really trying to hurt him? I like Ward initially, but if this guy can catch Ward with shots or even hurt Ward, then you'll have to think Kovalev could.”

All quotes were obtained firsthand.