Andre Ward vs Carl Froch: Send in Your Questions for Andre Ward Interview

The highly anticipated Super Six Classic Super Middleweight Tournament on Showtime will finally (knock on wood) come to an end with one clear winner takes all champion when undefeated American WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward takes on the heavy hitting British WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch in a tournament that has gone on way longer than expected.

With several unexpected variables such as several fighters being forced to withdraw from the tournament including Jermain Taylor, Andre Dirrell and Mikkel Kessler, with the addition of new fighters Green and Johnson and of course last minute injuries such as the cut on Ward's face have pushed this tournament much longer than anyone envisioned it to be.

Saturday December 17th we will finally get one unified WBA/WBC champion with his hand raised and the winner of the whole tournament obtaining that trophy.

We will be conducting an interview with Andre Ward so send in your questions ASAP and we will do our best to get the best questions answered in the interview.

So either post a comment in the comment section or private message me your questions for Andre Ward ASAP so we can try our best to get this interview completed and out for all the fight fans.

According to a press release from the producers of Showtime the following are some quotes made from the December 6th official media conference call for Ward vs Froch:

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Andre Ward:

“I always look forward to the conference calls because it lets me know this fight is right around the corner. I know for me personally I’ve done everything I need to do to prepare for a huge fight like this. Mentally, physically I’m pushing my body to the limit where only my coach knows when to pull me back. Because if it was left up to me I’d continue to just grind, grind, and grind. We’ve done everything we’re supposed to do. I’m physically fit, mentally fit. I feel fast, I feel strong, I feel explosive.”

 

What has the Super Six done for your popularity and visibility?

“I think before the Super Six the super middleweights were really a sleeper division. They looked right over the super middleweight division. They talked more about the light heavyweight division. And now people are talking about us and even after the tournament they are looking at the possible matchups with the fighters. I don’t think I would have gotten this much visibility, or the division wouldn’t have either, if it wasn’t for the Super Six Tournament. The Fight Camp 360° and the Staredown that just played, those are being watched by the mainstream fans.”

 

How did the delay in the fight affect your camp?

“I had already left home and you’re working day in and day out and then the cut happened. It’s obviously a let down. Physically, you have to be smart. The warrior in you, the fighter in you, especially with the stakes that are on the line, wants to keep grinding and keep working hard but you just have to be smart about it.

 

“One of my goals has always been for me to be Fighter of the Year and to get my coach Coach of the Year. It’s been a long time coming, almost 15 years of grinding and toiling when no one is around patting you on the back and there are no lights, camera, action. The lights and the cameras have just been coming around the last five, six, seven years but we’ve been grinding for many, many years. (Getting nominated as Fighter of the Year) would be icing on the cake for winning this tournament.”

 

Do you feel like your lack of flash has hurt you in a sport where flash and trash talking are so common?

“I’ve set out from day one to do things that I’ve been raised to do. I’m not going to change for anybody. I’m going to be myself. You’d be surprised how many people outside of boxing have come up to me and said, ‘Hey, I appreciate the way you carry yourself. I’m going to have my son or daughter look to you as an example.’ That kind of stuff right there means a lot more to mean than gaining a few more fans or writers saying, ‘Hey, this guy is crazy and we love him.’ Because if you look at a guy like Ricardo Mayorga, for example, he was a shooting star. He came in and made some noise and then he was gone. And people take shots at him and say he’s ignorant. Then when you have a fighter who comes in and tries to carry himself the right way, not as a front or an act but just has a clean lifestyle, then that’s not accepted either.

 

“So at the end of the day I’ve got to live my life in the middle. I can’t get caught up in wondering if people will like it or not. When it’s all said and done my children are going to look back on my career and I want to be able to point to my career and say, ‘Follow your dad. Do it the way he did it.’ Once this is all done and I hang them up, the legacy that is there will be there forever. So that’s more important for me to get a few pats on the back or for them to say you’re exciting outside of the ring. When you tell people you’re a fighter they expect you to be ignorant and to act a certain way. Like I’ve said many times I wasn’t raised that way.”

 

How do you expect the fight to go?

“Well, if you’ve seen my fights you know I do a little bit of everything and I also have the wherewithal to make adjustments throughout the fight. There are ebbs and flows in big fights like this. I’m expecting a very physical fight. As I’ve mentioned earlier, you don’t just win these types of fights, you’ve got to take them. Because you have two guys who have belts and you’re in a tournament that no one wants to lose. So you have to go take it and that’s what I’m prepared to do.”

 

Do you feel you have the power to hurt Carl?

“Absolutely. Don’t believe the hype. Absolutely.”

 

Carl Froch:

What has the Super Six done for your popularity and visibility?

 “I’m getting viewed on TV by many fight fans now which is great. I’ve actually become more popular in American than before in England, which is great. I’ve really gotten some great matchups since the tournament started. (Andre) Dirrell, (Mikkel) Kessler, (Arthur) Abraham, (Glen) Johnson and now Ward. I don’t think those fights would have happened if it wasn’t for the tournament. It’s been great for Andre and it’s been great for myself.”

How did the delay in the fight affect your preparation?

 “It actually worked in my favor. My trainer Rob McCracken is the head coach for the Great Britain Olympic boxing team and they actually had an Olympic qualifying tournament two weeks before my departure for New York for the previous date. It was going to work into my rest week and we were going to be OK with it. So essentially I had a two-week break when I heard about Ward’s injury. So I had a week with my family and then another week when I started to crank it up a bit. It was a little disappointing for me but the main problem it caused was having to get new flights and cheaper flights for my fans. But the response has been great since and each day I’m getting more and more people who are excited about coming over for the fight. It’s going to work out perfect.”

 

What do you expect to see from Andre Ward in this fight?

“Styles make fights, it’s an old cliché. It’s hard to look at past fights of fighters and then try and draw a conclusion on how a fight is going to go. I expect for him to come to box and to use his jab and his boxing skills. But he may try and close the gap and get into my chest and get rough in there. It’s hard to tell what to expect. It’s going to be a fantastic fight between two high level fighters. It’s going to be a war. There is a plan A and a plan B and maybe even a plan C.”

 

How has this tournament made you a better fighter?           

“I think in the Pascal fight I was seen as more of a brawler early on before I started to get behind my jab and box and that made the fight a little bit easier for me. Against Taylor I needed a big finish which I got. I was able to show a lot of my skill against Arthur Abraham. You always learn about yourself fight by fight. I’ve learned a lot about myself and my style. I’m in a happy place right now. I know exactly what I need to do to win this fight. I’m confident and I’m looking forward to doing my business on the 17^th.”

 

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So send in your questions for Andre Ward ASAP. Either post a comment in the comment section with your questions or private message them ASAP fight fans.

KING J is the Bleacher Report Boxing Community Leader and Featured Columnist. All quotes were provided directly to him via press release email from the producers of Showtime.

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