Andre
Ward (born February 23, 1984) is an American professional boxer.
He is a former WBC, WBA (Super), lineal, and The Ring magazine super
middleweight champion.
As an amateur, Ward won a gold medal at
the 2004 Summer Olympics. Upon turning professional later that year,
he won his first world title in 2009. Ward is ranked the #4 pound
for pound boxer in the world by Yahoo! Sports, Sports Illustrated,
ESPN and The Ring. In 2011, The Ring named him the Fighter of the
Year.
Early life
Andre was born in Oakland, California, the son
of Frank Ward, an Irish American, and Madeline Arvie Taylor, an African
American. Andre's paternal grandparents were Harold Ward and Florence
B. Ward. His father inspired him by regaling him with stories of hard
fought battles and triumphant victories. Given the choice to fight
or pursue other sports, the young Andre chose boxing and became a
world champion.
Amateur career
Ward started boxing in 1994. From
1998 to 2004 he did not lose a single match. In 2002, he won the Under
19 National Championship and was also a two time U.S. National Champion
in 2001 and 2003 at middleweight.
Professional career
Early years
Ward
made his pro debut on December 18, 2004 by scoring a second round
TKO over Chris Molina. On February 5, 2005 Ward fought in his second
pro fight against Kenny Kost. Ward overcame a rocky second round,
in which he was hurt by a left hook, to win by unanimous decision.
Ward defeated Roy Ashworth on April 7, 2005 by disqualification.
Ward
won his next three fights, all by knockout, before going up against
Darnell Boone on November 19, 2005. Ward was knocked down for the
first time in his career in round four. Despite the knockdown, Ward
went on to win by unanimous decision.
After the fight with Boone,
Ward went on to win his next six fights, including TKO victories over
undefeated Andy Kolle and Francisco Diaz. On November 16, 2007 Ward
beat undefeated Roger Cantrell by fifth round TKO in Saint Lucia.
On
March 20, 2008, at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California, Ward defeated
Rubin Williams by seventh round TKO. Ward hit Williams with jabs and
straight left hands almost at will, opening a bad cut over Williams'
left eye in the process. The cut would force the referee to stop the
fight.
Ward faced Jerson Ravelo on June 20, 2008, in Georgetown,
Cayman Islands, for the vacant regional NABO super middleweight title.
Ward dominated Ravelo for most of the fight en route to a TKO victory
in the eighth round.
On May 16, 2009, at the Oracle Arena in
Oakland, California, Ward defeated Edison Miranda by Unanimous decision.
The scores were 116-112, 119-109, 119-109 for Ward. Ward showed he
had an inside game as well as an outside game. Miranda couldn't stay
up with Ward's versatility around the ring.
On September 12,
2009, at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California, Ward
defeated Shelby Pudwill by TKO in the 3rd round.
Super Six World
Boxing Classic
Ward vs Kessler
Andre Ward defeated Mikkel Kessler on
November 21, 2009 for the WBA super middleweight championship in the
Super Six World Boxing Classic. Kessler was the strong favorite going
into Showtime's Super Six tournament. In a career defining performance,
undefeated hometown favorite Ward put the U.S. on the board in the
Super Six and captured the WBA super middleweight title with a dominant
11 round technical decision over Denmark's Kessler in their Group
Stage 1 bout.