By Norm Frauenheim-
Andre Ward’s return from a 19-month layoff Saturday night comes at a time when he has to come back. Everybody’s prime comes with an expiration date. It’s hard to know how close Ward is to the end of what he has done so well, perhaps better than anyone among the leaders in today’s pound-for-pound generation.
At 32, however, it’s time to find out. His comeback bout against journeyman contender Paul Smith at Oakland’s Oracle Arena in a BET-televised bout provides a look at what he still has and at what he might still accomplish.
“The game plan is to razzle, dazzle, be explosive and do it all,’’ Ward said after a workout Tuesday.
Yet, it’s clear that the bout against Smith, defeated by Arthur Abraham in his last two outings, is a test drive. It’s happening at a catch-weight, 172 pounds, four more than the super-middleweight division Ward dominated before contract problems and a shoulder injury. It’s three pounds less than light-heavyweight.
Against Smith, Ward will get an idea where his career goes next. Gennady Golovkin at 168 pounds? Or Sergey Kovalev at 175? For now, Kovalev looks more likely. Golovkin appears more interested in the winner of a projected bout between Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez for a piece of the middleweight title.
There was also an internet dust-up. On a Russian website, the usually polite Golovkin ripped Ward for suggesting that he was lying when he said he’d fight Ward at 168 pounds.
“You haven’t been interesting for a long time,” Golovkin was quoted as saying in response to Ward. “Everyone already knows what you are, and, because of this, they do not go to your fights. As a man, you are dead to me.”
If the quotes are accurate – and GGG has yet to deny them, it sounds as if chances at Ward-Golovkin are dead, too. But if the Floyd-Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao fight proved any thing, it showed that no deal is ever dead if money and interest are there.
That brings us back to Saturday night. It all depends on how Ward looks against Smith, a UK super-middleweight known for toughness and little else.
Ward might be at an age when he can no longer make 168, which would probably end the Golovkin possibility. GGG is already a small middleweight. It would be a stretch for his to fight at 168. Anything more than 170 looks unlikely. That would mean Kovalev, a Fight of the Year in any year.
Ward (27-0, 14 KOS) has been reluctant to talk about anything beyond Smith (35-5, 20 KOs), his first bout since his career was shelved in a contract dispute with late promoter Dan Goossen. He has no idea how he’ll react to his first opening bell in nearly two years.
“We’ll make adjustments along the way, but there isn’t a specific game plan for Paul Smith,’’ Ward said. “I think you are going to see everything come Saturday night. I’m not going to force it. I’m just going to let it flow.”
Mostly, Ward sounds as if he’s relieved to move beyond a stage in his career – his life – that left him unsure about what was next. He said he even thought about retiring. Twice, he said during a conference call, he planned to announce his retirement.
But now he’s anxious and energized for a second chance to fulfill the potential that has been oh-so evident since his 2004 gold medal, the last Olympic god won by an American boxer.
In retrospect, it might have been more lesson than layoff.
“Was it uncomfortable? Yes,’’ Ward said. “Did I hate every moment of it? Yes. But did it force me? Did it teach me? Absolutely. So, no, I wouldn’t have changed anything.
“And we’ll see Saturday night about the layoff.’’
And the future.
