Background and career
Andre Michael Ward (born February 23, 1984) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2017. He retired with an undefeated record and held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including unified super middleweight titles between 2009 and 2015, and unified light heavyweight titles between 2016 and 2017. During his reign as light heavyweight champion, Ward was ranked as the world's best pound for pound boxer, by The Ring magazine. In 2020, he was named Fighter of the Decade by Sports Illustrated. In 2024, ESPN ranked him as the 7th greatest men's boxer of the 21st century. As an amateur boxer, Ward won the light heavyweight gold medal at the 2004 Olympics and turned professional later that year. He rose to worldwide prominence upon entering the Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament in 2009, where he won the World Boxing Association (WBA) super middleweight title (Super version) from Mikkel Kessler in the opening group stage. In 2011, Ward defeated World Boxing Council (WBC) champion Carl Froch in the tournament final to unify the titles, as well as winning the vacant Ring magazine title. That same year, Ward was named Fighter of the Year by The Ring and the Boxing Writers' Association of America. In 2016, following a long period of sporadic in-ring activity, Ward moved up to light heavyweight and won the WBA (Undisputed version), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) titles from then-undefeated Sergey Kovalev. This earned Ward the Comeback of the Year award by The Ring. He successfully defended his titles in a rematch against Kovalev a year later, after which he retired from boxing. Ward was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2021, his first year of eligibility.
Andre was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Frank Ward, an Irish American and Madeline Arvie Taylor, an African American. Andre's career started when his father took him to U.S. Karate School of the Arts, a boxing gym in Hayward, California, when he was nine years old. While his mother was rarely present, battling a cocaine addiction on the streets of San Francisco, Ward lived with his father, a former amateur boxer himself. He struggled with a heroin addiction and sometime after age 12, his godfather and trainer Virgil Hunter became his temporary guardian. Ward lost his first amateur fight but didn't lose another fight, amateur or professional, after 1998. He attended Hayward High School.
Ward started boxing in 1994. 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. Ward finished his amateur career with a record of 115 wins and 5 losses.
2001 United States Amateur Middleweight Champion 2002 Under 19 National Championship 2003 United States Amateur Light Heavyweight Champion Won the Light Heavyweight gold medal for the United States at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece becoming the first American boxer to capture gold in 8 years.
1st round – Second Place at the 1st AIBA American 2004 Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2nd round – Defeated Clemente Russo (Italy) 17–9 Quarterfinals – Defeated Evgeny Makarenko (Russia) 23–16 Semifinals – Defeated Utkirbek Haydarov (Uzbekistan) 17–15 Gold Medal Match – Defeated Magomed Aripgadjiev (Belarus) 20–13
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 (this fight was the last of five that Ward fought within the middleweight limit of 160 lbs) and Francisco Diaz. On November 16, 2007, Ward beat undefeated Roger Cantrell by fifth-round TKO in Saint Lucia. At this point, Ward's record was 14 wins, no losses. He was ready to step up to his biggest challenge against big American puncher Allan Green (25–1, 18 KOs), with the fight scheduled to take place on February 2, 2008, on HBO. The fight was called off because Green had an obligation with ESPN to fight Rubin Williams on January 4. Green won the bout, and had hoped to fight Ward later in the year. He eventually got his chance two years later, losing a unanimous decision. 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 former prospect Edison Miranda by unanimous decision. The scores were 116–112, 119–109, and 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. Miranda said of Ward in the post fight, "I thought it was going to be easier, but it was tougher than I was expected. I don't feel cheated. Andre is the champion. I have respect for him." Ward, who fought his biggest name to date said, "This is kind of a bittersweet victory. I'm happy and excited because the fans had a good time, and there were a lot of people here, but I'm not 100 percent happy with my performance. I've got to go look at the tape. I did some things well, but I felt I could have improved in other areas." On September 12, 2009, at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California, Ward defeated Shelby Pudwill by TKO in the 3rd round.
