NEW YORK – April 21, 2023 – SHOWTIME Sports Documentary Films, in association with UNINTERRUPTED, announced today that S.O.G.: The Book of Ward, an intimate portrayal of the improbable rise of boxing great Andre Ward will premiere Friday, June 2 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME and on SHOWTIME streaming and on demand platforms that same day. The official trailer for S.O.G.: The Book of Ward has also been released on the eve of the blockbuster telecast headlined by Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia Saturday, April 22 in a SHOWTIME PPV Production (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT).

To watch and share the official trailer, go to: https://youtu.be/cYLYDouXxso

In the film, produced by the athlete empowerment brand UNINTERRUPTED founded by LeBron James and Maverick Carter, the undefeated, five-time world champion and Olympic gold medalist reveals in personal terms his journey from a turbulent childhood in Oakland, Calif., through the pressures of world championship expectations and ultimately to his induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2021. 

“I always knew that one day I would tell my story in my own words. I’ve been waiting for the right moment and platform to do it, and the time is now,” said Ward. “I’m excited to be partnering with SHOWTIME and UNINTERRUPTED to bring this to life. Many people know what I accomplished, but they don’t know what I overcame to get to this point. I pull back the curtain on my parents’ struggles with addiction, the lure of the street life following my father’s death, and my battles with the sport of boxing itself. This film will detail how I rose above it all through my faith, determination and desire to leave my own unique legacy no matter the cost.”  

In September 2017 at the age of 33, with his status as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport secured, the undefeated Ward shocked the sporting world when he announced his retirement from boxing. Now 39 and a father of five, Ward reflects on his life with newfound clarity and appreciation for his unconventional rise to greatness. Featuring interviews with longtime trainer and godfather Virgil Hunter, Andre’s wife Tiffiney Ward, as well as key figures from the sports and entertainment world, S.O.G.: The Book of Ward will examine a side of Ward few have ever seen.

S.O.G.: The Book of Ward was directed and executive produced by Rachel Neubeck and co-director, Diaunte Thompson. For UNINTERRUPTED, James, Carter, Jamal Henderson and Philip Byron served as executive producers, alongside Co-Executive Producer Matt Rissmiller.  

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Paramount, owns and operates the premium service SHOWTIME^®, which features critically acclaimed original series, provocative documentaries, box-office hit films, comedy and music specials and hard-hitting sports. SHOWTIME is available as a stand-alone streaming service across all major streaming devices and Showtime.com, as well as via cable, DBS, telco and streaming video providers. SNI also operates the premium services THE MOVIE CHANNEL^™ and FLIX^®, as well as on demand versions of all three brands. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV. For more information, go to www.SHO.com.

NEW YORK – June 9, 2022 – SHOWTIME Sports Documentary Films presents a film examining the improbable rise of one of boxing’s most guarded champions, Andre Ward, produced by Lebron James and Maverick Carter’s UNINTERRUPTED. The undefeated, five-time world champion and Olympic gold medalist reveals his untold story in a deeply personal account of his journey from a turbulent childhood in Oakland, Calif., through the pressures of world championship expectations and ultimately to his induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame this weekend. The currently untitled film will premiere on SHOWTIME in early 2023.

“I always knew that one day I would tell my story in my own words. I’ve been waiting for the right moment and platform to do it, and the time is now,” said Ward. “I’m excited to be partnering with SHOWTIME and UNINTERRUPTED to bring this to life.  Many people know what I accomplished, but they don’t know what I overcame to get to this point. I pull back the curtain on my parents’ struggles with addiction, the lure of the street life following my father’s death, and my battles with the sport of boxing itself. This film will detail how I rose above it all through my faith, determination and desire to leave my own unique legacy no matter the cost.”  

In September 2017 at the age of 33, with his status as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport secured, the undefeated Ward shocked the sporting world when he announced his retirement from boxing. Now 38 and a father of five, Ward is reflecting on his life with newfound clarity and appreciation for his unconventional rise to greatness. Featuring interviews with longtime trainer and godfather Virgil Hunter, Andre’s wife Tiffiney Ward, as well as key figures from the sports and entertainment world, the film will examine a side of Ward that no one has ever seen before.

“The battles Andre Ward fought go way beyond the title-winning efforts he produced in the ring,” said Stephen Espinoza, President, Sports & Event Programming, Showtime Networks Inc. “Most people would crumble in front of the challenges Andre faced, but he stood tall. His story is incredible. We’re honored and thankful to him for sharing his personal journey with us, and we are proud to work with UNINTERRUPTED again on another compelling and provocative story at the intersection of human drama, sport and society.”

The documentary is directed and executive produced by Rachel Neubeck along with James, Carter, Jamal Henderson and Philip Byron of UNINTERRUPTED, the Sports Emmy^® Award-winning athlete empowerment brand housed under The SpringHill Company founded by James and Carter, and co-executive produced by Matt Rissmiller.

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Paramount, owns and operates the premium service SHOWTIME^®, which features critically acclaimed original series, provocative documentaries, box-office hit films, comedy and music specials and hard-hitting sports. SHOWTIME is available as a stand-alone streaming service across all major streaming devices and Showtime.com, as well as via cable, DBS, telco and streaming video providers. SNI also operates the premium services THE MOVIE CHANNEL^® and FLIX^®, as well as on demand versions of all three brands. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV^®. For more information, go to www.SHO.com. 

By Norm Frauenheim-

With apologies to Floyd Mayweather Jr., Andre Ward and few others, defeat is a little bit like a scar. It’s hard to get through a boxing career without one.

The key is what to do with it. There’s denial. There’s delusion. There’s blaming someone else. Anyone else.

But there’s never much healing in any of that, at least not in a sport so singularly lonely. There’s no backup quarterback to blame. No dog who ate the homework.

There’s only the fighter, looking in the mirror and at months of shadow-boxing with the personal torment left in the turbulent wake of a loss. Tough to win that one, yet a victory is often the defining fundamental in a game that’s always been about adversity.

Vasiliy Lomachenko has figured that out.

His understanding of defeat, even his empathy for a bitter rival now dealing with one, is evident in the days before the Ukrainian’s bid to get back into the lightweight title mix Saturday (ESPN, 6 pm PT/9 pm ET) against Richard Commey at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

His date with Commey comes just two weeks after Teofimo Lopez lost the 135-pound belts and his composure to George Kambosos Jr. in the same building. Lopez upset Lomachenko, taking the belts and knocking out his pound-for-pound supremacy with a unanimous decision in October 2020.

Lopez went on to rip Lomachenko, ridiculing him for saying he suffered an injury to his right shoulder. Lomachenko moved on, underwent surgery, a second procedure on a shoulder that had been injured against Jorge Linares in his first fight at lightweight.

Lomachenko, who still believes the scorecard loss to Lopez should have been judged a draw, wanted a rematch.

No way, Lopez said often and always with a dismissive tone that suggested Lomachenko (15-2, 11 KOs) was yesterday’s news.

He’s not, of course. Commey (30-3, 27 KOs) is his second fight in a comeback that began with a ninth-round stoppage of Masayoshi Nakatani in June.  

Given the trash-talking rancor left over from Lopez’s upset of Lomachenko nearly 15 months ago, however, it was easy – too easy – to think Lomachenko might experience some schadenfreude – a uniquely German word that means taking pleasure in another’s misfortune.

No, Lomachenko said Thursday during a session with reporters after the formal part of the final news conference for the Commey bout.

“I am not happy, because I understand what he’s feeling,’’ Lomachenko said when asked how he felt about the Lopez loss. “I was in the same situation.’’

It’s a situation that the once-beaten Lopez is just beginning to confront. Questions linger, including troubling news about his physical condition at opening bell. ESPN quoted a doctor as saying he could have died because of a breathing issue.

Lomachenko went on to say that he was happy Lopez would recover and “get out of this situation.’’

The situation – dealing with defeat – is a place he has been a couple of times. He had to come back from defeat after just his second pro bout – a loss to Orlando Salido. In retrospect, that defeat might have been more of a bruising way to pay some apprenticeship dues against a tough gatekeeper.

Lomachenko arrived in the pro ranks as perhaps the most celebrated Olympic boxer ever. He won two gold medals, 2008 and again in 2012. Lomachenko responded to Salido’s brutal welcome to the pros by winning titles at featherweight, junior-lightweight and lightweight.

He did, he says, mostly because of the way a defeat forces a fighter to accept accountability and then re-commit to the craft.

“Losing is not comfortable, but if you have a goal, you have to continue,’’ he said.

For Lomachenko, the goal has always been there. He talked about it in a compelling, Top Rank-produced video with Hall-of-Fame inductee Roy Jones Jr., his boyhood hero.

“You need to have just one dream,’’ he said. “You need to go to bed with your dream. You need to get up with your dream.

“You need to live with your dream.’’Sometimes, that means you have to come back from a nightmare

Under the agreement, Bradley will continue to serve as boxing analyst for Top Rank on ESPN and appear on a variety of ESPN platforms including ESPN+. He will also continue to work alongside ESPN’s best-in-class boxing announce team, including Mark Kriegel, Bernardo Osuna, Joe Tessitore and Andre Ward, on pre- and post-shows and ringside contributions.

“We are thrilled to have Tim continuing his role with Top Rank on ESPN. His expertise, knowledge and passion for the sport makes him an incredible part of our Top Rank on ESPN team,” said Mark Gross, ESPN senior vice president, production and remote events. “Last June, boxing was the first live event production back on our air following the pause in sports caused by COVID-19. As we entered unchartered territory in live production, Tim was able to quickly adjust to a “new normal” and showed a deep level of range and versatility as an analyst, first by working remotely from home studios and later by covering the sport from the Top Rank bubble in Las Vegas.”

“I am extremely blessed and thankful toward ESPN and Top Rank boxing for placing their faith in me,” said Bradley. “I look forward to continuing our legacy as the staple of boxing alongside the entire ESPN and Top Rank family, from those of us on screen to those behind the scenes. I will continue to make sure that the fans get the real.”

Bradley joined ESPN as a guest analyst prior to his retirement from professional boxing in 2016.  He has since called some of thehighest rated fights of 2020, along with some of biggest recent fights in the sport, including Pacquiao vs. Horn (November 2017), Lomachenko vs. Rigondeaux (December 2017), Crawford vs. Benavidez, (October 2018), Linares vs. Lomachenko (May 2019), Wilder vs. Fury II (February 2020) and Lomachenko vs. Lopez (December 2020).

Bradley held three world championships in two divisions (WBC light welterweight, WBO light welterweight and WBO welterweight).  He retired in 2017, finishing his career with a record of 33-2-1, with 13 of his victories by way of knockouts. He won his first world title fight, light welterweight, in 2008 when he upset champion Junior Witter in England.

From Palm Springs, Calif., Bradley began training as a professional boxer in his late teens.  In 2004, at the age of 20—just nine days shy of his 21^st birthday—Bradley fought Francisco Martinez in his first professional fight, which he won in the second round by knockout.

December 23, 2020–TONIGHT!!! on fubo Sports Network, fights that feature former two-division world champion Ricky Hatton plus recent International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Andre Ward will be streamed on Classic Fight Night.

The bouts on tonight’s the show will be Hatton’s sensational performance against Jose Luis Castillo in a much anticipated bout that took place on June 23, 2007. Also on the show will be the June 10, 2000 fight between Hatton and Gilbert Quiros.

Ward, who just last week was named to the 2021 International Boxing Hall of Fame class, will have his April 29, 2006 bout against Andy Kolle showcased on the show. The fight was the 9th fight of Ward’s career.

The show begins at 8 PM ET.

About fubo Sports Network
Available on 75 million devices, fubo Sports Network is the live, free-to-consumer TV network featuring sports stories on and off the field. Launched by live TV streaming platform fuboTV (NYSE: FUBO) in September 2019, fubo Sports Network airs live sports, award-winning original programming and partner content from CampusLore, FanDuel, Stadium, The Players Tribune, USA TODAY and VSiN, among others. Stream for free on LG Channels, News on Tubi, Plex, Pluto TV, Samsung TV Plus, The Roku Channel, Vizio Channels and XUMO or as part of fuboTV’s base subscription package of 100+ sports, news and entertainment channels.

For regular updates on our fighters, events, and promotions, please like the Banner Promotions Facebook Page, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter @BannerBoxing

Undefeated two-division world champion and 2004 Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward, has agreed to a new multiyear deal with ESPN, it was announced today.  Under the agreement, Ward will continue to serve as a boxing analyst for Top Rank on ESPN and contribute to content across platforms at the organization.

“We are thrilled to have renewed our agreement with Andre,” said Mark Gross, ESPN senior vice president, production and remote events. “Andre has proved that his experience in the ring, and wealth of knowledge and passion for boxing, enriches our live boxing coverage.  His contributions to boxing across other platforms and programs also makes for a truly unique perspective on the sport for fans.”

“I have been blessed to work alongside some of the best in the business. I’ve had many mentors who’ve contributed to my growth over the years,” said Ward. “I have a few specific goals when I’m behind the mic: I want to be an asset to ESPN, to the fighters and the sport and to be the best that I can possibly be week to week. Opportunities are limited in the sports media field and I’m thankful for the seat I get to sit in and the whole ESPN team.”

In addition to his work as a ringside analyst for live boxing events, he also hosts two shows on ESPN+: Ring Science with Andre Ward, which debuted in April of 2019 and features in-depth analysis of fighters’ styles, strengths and weaknesses as they prepare to face off and Unguarded, in which Ward interviews top athletes in boxing for one-on-one, candid conversations.

Ward is a former number one pound-for-pound fighter, Unified Light Heavyweight Champion of the World and recipient of the 2020 Boxing Writers Association’s Sam Taub Excellence in Broadcast Journalism award. He retired as an active fighter with a perfect 32-0 record in September of 2017.

NEW YORK – May 28, 2020 – SHOWTIME Sports^® has announced today its SHOWTIME BOXING CLASSICS June slate, featuring a collection of Mike Tyson fights, Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko and other memorable moments from the network’s deep archive of world championship bouts. SHOWTIME BOXING CLASSICS airs every Friday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME and is also available via the SHOWTIME streaming service and SHOWTIME ANYTIME^®.

In June, the weekly series includes four nights of edge-of-your-seat boxing action featuring some of the most unforgettable bouts in recent years, including 2017’s unanimous Fight of the Year – Joshua vs. Klitschko – and a dramatic matchup between Adrien Broner and Marcos Maidana. In addition, Mike Tyson’s legendary knockout power will be on display with five fights in one night on June 12, and the semifinals and final of the Super Six World Boxing Classic will air on June 19 and June 26.

The full schedule is as follows:

• Friday, June 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT
  • Joshua vs. Klitschko
  • Broner vs. Maidana
• Friday, June 12 at 10 p.m. ET/PT
  • Tyson vs. Frans Botha
  • Tyson vs. Julian Francis
  • Tyson vs. Lou Savarese
  • Tyson vs. Brian Nielsen
  • Tyson vs. Clifford Etienne
• Friday, June 19 at 10 p.m. ET/PT
  • Andre Ward vs. Arthur Abraham
  • Carl Froch vs. Glen Johnson
• Friday, June 26 at 10 p.m. ET/PT
  • Ward vs. Froch

Combat sports analysts Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell will host live companion episodes of their digital talk show MORNING KOMBAT on the Morning Kombat YouTube Channel for select SHOWTIME BOXING CLASSICS telecasts. They will watch the fights along with viewers, give their real-time reactions and take questions from fans throughout the replay. Viewers can follow along and participate in the discussion by using the hashtag #FightFromHome on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

SHOWTIME is currently available to subscribers via cable, DBS, and telco providers, and as a stand-alone streaming service through Amazon, Apple^®, Google, LG Smart TVs, Oculus Go, Roku^®, Samsung Smart TVs and Xbox One. Consumers can also subscribe to SHOWTIME via Amazon’s Prime Video Channels, Apple TV Channels, AT&T TV Now, FuboTV, Hulu, The Roku Channel, Sling TV and YouTube TV or directly at www.showtime.com.

Carl Froch and Darren Barker own some of the best wins on away territory by British fighters, and the duo talk about fighting on the road with Chris Algieri on the latest episode of ‘The Rounds’.
WATCH EPISODE TWO OF ‘THE ROUNDS’ AS CARL FROCH AND DARREN BARKER JOIN CHRIS ALGIERI
Froch began life as WBC World Super-Middleweight champion with a thrilling final round win over Jermain Taylor in Connecticut in April 2009, and then in 2010-11, ‘The Cobra’ went on the road during the Super Six series to face Mikkel Kessler, Arthur Abraham, Glen Johnson and Andre Ward.

Barker’s first World title action saw him face the formidable Middleweight king Sergio Martinez in Atlantic City in October 2011 and then returned to the same city in August 2013 to achieve his World title dreams in dramatic fashion against IBF king Daniel Geale.

Both men open up on those trips and more, including great stories on their sparring sessions together.

Carl Froch: “I enjoyed being on the road. When we boxed for England we were going to hostile environments and fighting top fighters back-to-back in nations tournaments, but I was always a nervous fighter. So, when I defended my title against Jermain Taylor in Connecticut, I was nervous about it all. 

“Not so much boxing abroad, but more that it was Taylor, a former undisputed Middleweight World champion. I saw him get out of this limousine for the press conference in NYC and he just looked like the don, he had this nice suit on and looked crisp and clean. I was just there with a hoodie and t-shirt and I was thinking ‘do I belong here?’ It was quite a daunting thing for me, and I was always quite nervous and apprehensive as a fighter, I was unsure of myself, and I was a new World champion and making my first defense. I didn’t really know if I belonged at World level and here I was fighting Taylor in America. I look back at that fight now and think how naive I was at that level and I just had to put all my trust in Rob McCracken and my fitness, my refusal to quit and my competitive nature, I like to win.

“[Kessler and the volcanic ash cloud] On Tuesday of fight week we had Sky News on and they were saying all the flights we grounded so I am thinking I am definitely not going, the US broadcasters aren’t going to be able to make it over, so it’s definitely off. We had a barbecue in the garden, I had a couple of cans of Guinness; I don’t drink much, and I had a couple of them in fight week! The next day my promoter rang me and said that the Sauerlands’s were sending a private jet and the flight was at 2pm. Private jet sounds glamorous but it wasn’t, it was a five-seater, it was bumpy all the way and Rob doesn’t like heights so he was white all the way and didn’t say a word, hanging onto the seat and looking at me, and I was winding him up saying ‘I think we’re bang in trouble here this plane is all over the place!’ 

“I crashed the weight which I never do, and at the weigh-in I felt weak. It’s the first and only time I ever did that, but I don’t want people to think I’m making an excuse, I felt good to fight and had a great 12 rounds against a brilliant fighter and I just didn’t quite do enough. But going over on the Wednesday under that ash cloud in fight week and being overweight, switching off, it was horrible. I believe that things happen for a reason though and in boxing you don’t win or lose, you win or learn. I learnt how to come back and in my next fight I fought Arthur Abraham and the WBC title was back up for grabs, that boosted my spirits and that loss then didn’t feel as bad. 

“The loss with Andre Ward felt worse. Andre is a fantastic fighter, very skillful, fast, hard to hit, good with his jab. I remember getting out of the fight thinking, I had a decent rounds in 10, 11 and 12, and I was getting into it and I thought, why didn’t I start earlier, why didn’t I get into it, why didn’t I believe in myself? But that’s what we do when we lose, we look for reasons.”

Darren Barker: “I never felt more nervous or under pressure in the States and I think a big part of that was the experience of fighting all over the world as an amateur.

“I flew into New York with Eddie Hearn and we were in and out for the Martinez press conference, I remember the American’s almost laughing at me for showing any confidence, even though I was undefeated and European champion, I just hadn’t fought anybody. I was confident in my ability, but it was the unknown, I had sparred hundreds of rounds with Carl, an elite level fighter, but it’s still sparring. I knew I was capable of being in there with elite fighters, but I didn’t quite understand where I was at the time. 

“I don’t have any regrets looking back at my career, but I have a slight one looking back at that fight because I think if I had believed in myself a little more, been more aggressive and forced the action more, then potentially I could have caused a huge upset. I’m not saying that it would have happened, I just wished I gave it a bit more. But the whole unbuild up was just the reason I chose boxing, I was on top of a huge skyscraper in New York for the presser and thinking, ‘this is it, I’ve made it’. I was walking up fifth avenue with Eddie and we walked past a shop with bright green trousers in the window and Eddie said: ‘you should buy them and wear them at the press conference for a laugh!’ I said: ‘no chance, I wouldn’t be seen dead in them!’ We got to the press conference and Sergio was wearing that exact pair of trousers! 

“The Repton club had a knack of churning out top quality Southpaws so I was never fazed at fighting them, I knew I would be able to compete with him and it was a great experience for me and one that was massively valuable going onto the Geale fight.

“I’d been to Atlantic City for the Martinez fight, so it wasn’t alien to me and I was driven to right that wrong. We had a similar game plan, to be aggressive but smart, on the front-foot and hold center of the ring. It wasn’t until I got in there that I realized how awkward he was, he had a knack of getting out of range, I was falling short and adopted a different plan to get on his chest and outwork him. 

“The moment I got put down in the sixth round, a lot of people know my brother Gary passed away, he was a very good fighter and if I had have lost that fight I would never have fought again, it would have been a box that hadn’t been ticked and it would have eaten away. So, I was just so prepared to leave everything in the ring that night that a body shot was never going to keep me down, fast-forward to the 12th round and hearing Michael Buffer say, ‘and the new’, I still can’t believe it. I achieved what I set out to do. 

“There were a lot of question marks over my toughness, but I always knew I was tough. You don’t do 12 rounds of sparring with Carl and not be tough! I always knew there was a fight out there to show everyone I was mentally and physically tough.”

Froch and Barker star in the second episode of ‘The Rounds’ and the first episode, featuring Mikey Garcia, Devin Haney and Daniel Jacobs talking about the highs and lows of boxing, can be found on Matchroom Boxing’s YouTube channel.

Top Rank on ESPN blow-by-blow commentator Joe Tessitore, analysts – former pound-for-pound two-division world champion, Andre Ward, and former two-division world titleholder, Tim Bradley, participated in a media conference call yesterday to discuss the showdown betweenundefeated lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (27-0-1, 19 KOs), the self-proclaimed “Gypsy King” vs. Tom Schwarz (24-0, 16 KOs), Saturday, June 15 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.  The fight will air live and exclusively on ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET, with the undercards airing live on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes, beginning at 7p.m. ET.

A transcript of the conference call follows:

JOE TESSITORE: Thank you. Welcome, everybody. By the way, I need to boost up my introduction after listening to the introduction of my partners here, Tim and Andre.

Listen, we’re very, very excited. We’ll open it up for questions in a little bit. The one thing we’re most excited about, we just saw it a few weeks ago with what happened with, we saw it with the explosive right hand power of Deontay Wilder, but it all began on December 1st in L.A. in the 12th round which Tyson Fury got up from that devastating knockdown after completing out-boxing Deontay Wilder in the controversial draw. There was a huge boost stateside in excitement of the heavyweight division.

But then with what’s been happening in this division, with the major signings in this deal, Fury coming stateside, you just get the sense that we are right now in the early stages of what could be a golden era again in the division with depth and unpredictability and thrilling fights, dynamic characters.

We feel that on Saturday night on ESPN+, the most dynamic and the biggest personality maybe right now in sports is ready to really shine.

But we also know that this division, with men this size, as was just proven in New York, anything can happen. Obviously the reports and what’s out there about Wilder and Fury having the rematch which we’re thrilled to be a part of in our network in early 2020, but there’s a lot to happen before we get to that. It gets started on Saturday night.

I will tell you that on this crew, we’ve all been involved for a long time in the sport, it’s noticeable to us things on two fronts in terms of when we use those words ‘awareness’ and ‘relevant’. There’s boxing and then there’s heavyweight boxing.  

Internally at ESPN, you see it on other platforms, these fights are covered differently. This week you see so much mainstream attention for Tyson Fury. I don’t think it’s by accident. I don’t think it’s because he’s the champion. This guy’s personality, this guy’s recent comebacks, the way he goes about his business with such authenticity, takes everything head on.  

The discussions he’s been having of awareness of mental health, the honesty he puts forth in discussing his failings, his comeback, American sports fans are falling in love with him right now.

I get up and see the coverage. It’s really something. I think a lot of that energy and momentum is carried this week in Vegas. His press conference yesterday was outrageous. We’re looking forward to having a long visit with him with our production crew later today.

Then you see the response by our network. You see what this commitment is with Top Rank and ESPN. Everything we’re doing serves the boxing fans so much better.

Friday night on ESPN, they are handing us the keys to the network for a window of two and a half hours from the weigh-in show to a special 90-minute prime time special getting ready for Fury-Schwarz. It is unprecedented. To think what people were saying about the sport just five, seven, ten years ago when it was stuck in the corner of premium cable, then the outrageous demands of Pay-Per-View, we couldn’t be happier.

I’ll turn it over to the guys, then we’ll take questions. Here is Mr. Andre Ward with his opening comments.

ANDRE WARD: Just like our first conference call, Joe pretty much covered it all.

I am happy to be here. I’m happy to be a part of this event. Tessitore kind of spoke about it briefly, the heavyweight division, where it’s at right now. When the heavyweight division is healthy, we’ve seen historically that boxing seems to be healthy.

We have people clambering about the heavyweight matchups, whether it’s Joshua, Wilder, Fury, and now Ruiz has inserted himself abruptly. This is something that’s on mainstream television constantly. Obviously on the message boards, everywhere else. It’s an exciting time for the heavyweight division. It’s an exciting time for the sport of boxing.

Just to speak a little bit about the main event, I’ll let Tim talk about the under cards, those fights. As you look at Schwarz, some people would say he doesn’t have a shot. On paper, it’s a tough ask for a fighter that hasn’t fought the competition of Tyson Fury. Also in the sport of boxing, all you can ask for is an opportunity and chance. Schwarz has his opportunity and chance come Saturday night.

If you look at Tyson Fury, Dereck Chisora, he has fought some French contenders, but he hadn’t really fought the likes of Vladimir Klitschko. Not a lot of people gave him an opportunity either heading into that fight. Tyson Fury made his name and made his stance in the heavyweight division from that fight. The Germans are hoping that Tom Schwarz can do the same.

It’s an exciting night. Tyson Fury has a lot to gain and a lot to lose if he performs or if he does not perform. Again, for the skeptics out there, who feel like this fight is a foregone conclusion, I’ve been on the record feeling as if Tyson Fury is going to handle Schwarz rather easily, we can’t help but look at what happened a couple weeks ago with Ruiz and Joshua. We just can’t.

This adage is true in boxing, one fight can change it all. We know this is true especially in the heavyweight division. We have to leave room for a fighter rising to the occasion, one punch landing in the right spot at the right time. Let’s see what happens. I’m excited about the fight. I can’t wait to call it Saturday night.

TIM BRADLEY.: Just to piggyback what Dre (Andre Ward) was saying, the unexpected is always around us 24/7 baby. It is. The heavyweight division is back, like the ’90s, man. You know, the thing is that I got into boxing watching heavyweight boxing. When boxing is heavy, healthy, it’s exciting. It’s exciting for the whole sport.

We have four guys right now, I honestly think we have more, Joshua, we also have Ruiz, we also have Wilder in there, then we have our guy here on ESPN Tyson Fury, baby. These guys are into a round-robin. There’s so much money to be made.

These are the type of fights that no one knows who is going to win these matches. We can say whatever we want to say about each guy, we have every different shape and size. We have different personalities all the way across the board. I’m just happy, man, to be a part of this. I’m happy to be showcasing Fury and Schwarz this weekend. I think it’s going to be a great fight.

I think a little differently. I think that Fury needs to have a good performance, a knockout would be beautiful, but I think he just needs to win. We all know the fight we want to see. We want to see the Wilder-Fury II. Fury has to take care of what he needs to do Saturday night, then Wilder needs to take care of Ortiz, we going to get that second match.

Anyway, I’m open for questions. I’m happy, I’m excited. I’m glad to be here in Vegas. Brings back a whole lot of vibes being in this big atmosphere.

Q. What are your thoughts about the co-main event featuring Philadelphia’s Jesse Hart moving up to light heavyweight?

JOE TESSITORE: Dre could answer that very well. All three of us have been very close with Jesse in recent years with the two fights against Ramirez… Dre, why don’t you lead off.

ANDRE WARD: I think it’s a great matchup simply put. Barrera is the type of guy where he wasn’t the top Cuban at the farm in the Cuban camp, but he would go to tournaments, but wasn’t the silver, gold medalist Cuban.

That’s true in his professional career where he’ll get to the door, he’ll perform, test the champion. He has won some good fights, but he hasn’t been able to show that he has championship pedigree.

That being said, he’s still a tough, tough task. I won the majority of our rounds. He was the type of guy you had to come ready and you had to be on point or he would have a night.

As far as Jesse Hart, he’s moving up in weight. Personally, I like the move-up with weight. With Jesse’s frame, I felt like for the past two years, 168 pounds was not good for him. As fighters, we come up, boxing is in the Dark Ages as far as our perspective with the body, how it works. We were told as young fighters, boil yourself down, keep the advantages, only move up in weight when you absolutely have to.

I don’t know if he has to move up because he absolutely has to. This is more like, hey, I don’t want to get caught in this 168-pound mess. He’s going up voluntarily.

I think he’s going to show a lot better, not fade later in fights. I think the key for Jesse is for him to put on a complete fight, know when to be that North Philly fighter, and when to box and use his God-given ability. If he does that, I see him winning this fight, possibly getting a stoppage. Barrera has been down, Jesse has been hurt. Barrera can be tinny at times.

Jesse, I’m reading and hearing, he wants to go in there and toe the line, have a fight from the beginning, going to make it a lot tougher. You get into a 50/50, 60/40 fight in his favor, but it’s still unnecessarily tough against a veteran like Barrera.

TIM BRADLEY.: Do I need to say more? Boxing is seriously back. Look at the light heavyweight division. We have Kovalev, Alvarez, Marcus Browne, we have Barrera. We also have Ramirez who we showcased on our show as well. Now we’re getting Jesse Hart moving up to 175 pounds.

Jesse Hart, have you ever been home shopping? That’s exactly what he’s doing. He’s shopping for a new home. You want to know why? His old home wasn’t that good, he’s outgrown it. Plus there was a guy that kept bothering him at that weight class, his name is Roberto Ramirez. Never won a championship there.

Right now he’s moving up because he’s looking for another place. I think his confidence may be a little shot at 168. 175, he’s looking for newfound confidence in his career. Maybe to rejuvenate himself to get some confidence by beating Barrera, who is right now on the light heavy list at No. 7. He’s ranked No. 7. He’s just getting right into the mix. He’s not playing.

I think it’s going to be a great fight. Think Barrera, 37 years old, a little watered down maybe at this point. He still has power, his fundamentals and technique. I think Jesse Hart is going to have to box and box and box. He’s going to have to box all night to beat a guy like Barrera.

JOE TESSITORE: When it comes to this fight, I was very happy to see where this fight fell on the bout sheet and on our programming schedule because this is going to be the fight. Obviously the promotion for Fury is driving the audience to ESPN+ is overwhelming, especially in the course of the next 48 hours, it’s going to be a tidal wave of promotion across all ESPN platforms, far beyond the endemic media we’re used to in boxing, very mainstream.

That means there’s going to be a lot of tune-in at 10 Eastern. When folks tune in that are mainstream sports fans, they’re going to see Schwarz. In the next three to five years, you’re going to have unification bouts, you’re going to have rematches, you have excellent fighters in their prime, you have some established names, and many of them are under the same promotion of Top Rank, which means we’re not going to have a lot of hurdles to make these fights.

We’ve seen this guys this year on our air. There’s talk of unification, coming up on ESPN the second half of 2019 which continues into 2020. The winner of this fight is going to be in a good spot, especially Jesse Hart, 29 years old, moving up to a new weight class.

When you are thinking about a guy who the losses are these highly competitive fights against another guy who is moving up to 175, has a 40-0 record. Between Ramirez and Jesse Hart coming into the division, then Alvarez, (indiscernible), Kovalev, Bostic already being established, this is a division that’s going to get everybody’s attention for the next three to five years with high, high quality fights that will continue on.

I love the fact that it gets this spotlight just prior to Tyson Fury.

Q. When you look at Tyson Fury the boxer, mentally he’s in a much better place than he was. Where does he rank or at least compared to the version of Tyson Fury that beat Klitschko? Is he equal to or greater than?

TIM BRADLEY.: I think he’s greater than. I think he’s confident. The fact that he got up when nobody gets up on Wilder’s right hand, is the fact that he’s a lot better now. He’s in a better place.

Plus all the money they throwing at him. You can’t be more motivated when you getting that much money, that much bread. I’m telling you, man. You see how slim he is. He’s serious about this game. He’s always been serious. He’s always been a fighter. I know he had that two and a half years hiatus or off, but at the same time he’s back now. I think he’s a lot better now. I think he’s a lot quicker.

I don’t know if you’ve been watching anything on YouTube or any of the press tour, what he’s been doing, the workouts he’s been doing.

He’s quick, elusive, faster than ever, more powerful than ever.

ANDRE WARD: I agree with Tim. If you look at the way Tyson Fury looks right now, he’s slimmed up. He seems to be living the life of a fighter. To me, that means he’s constantly working his craft. He doesn’t seem to be doing a lot of extracurricular activity outside of the ring, outside of the gym. That’s the first thing. He’s living like a fighter.

Again, I didn’t know him personally back then. I don’t know him personally now. But just from what I’ve seen, he seems to be more dedicated now than he was back then.

When you go through the Klitschko fight, the personal issues, when you go through the Wilder fight when a lot of people, even people in his family felt like that was a career suicide to take that fight. When you go through those things, you come out on the other end, you have no choice but to be better, more seasoned, even more hardened as a man and as a fighter.

He’s definitely better. He’s definitely more confident, or as confident as he’s ever been, if he’s ever lacked confidence. He’s seasoned, more seasoned than he’s ever been. I would say he’s in his absolute prime right now.

Q. Joe, anything to add to that or more of the same mindset?

JOE TESSITORE: I had the chance to spend time with Tyson about two hours after he landed at JFK. He came to New York. I drove down from my house to meet him for dinner. As soon as he walked into the restaurant, walked up to the table, I just could not believe what he looks like physically now, how he has transformed his body.

We had a long talk about that. He still weighs 265 pounds. But how he is so tight, so strong, so athletic right now. The training video, even what he did in the lobby here the other day, the hand speed, the fluidity, the upper body movement. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think you were looking at a welterweight or middleweight. To think the guy is 6’9″.

I thought his night against Klitschko was very, very special, a high watermark.

I do take into account the version we saw him against Wilder was a guy still shaking off ring rust, not in his physical prime.

The guy I see right now is an absolute physical beast, and he knows it. He’s got that swag and confidence. I think what you saw yesterday, how lighthearted and how much fun he was having at the final press conference, is a guy who knows very much what he is and where he is.

I do think that this is a guy who you get the best of right now. Listen, yes, he had the personal stuff that he had to clear up. At the end of the day there aren’t a lot of miles on the odometer. You have a 30-year-old, 6’9″, 265 prime athlete. I do expect him to be the best we’ve seen of him through this fight into early 2020 against Wilder when we get the rematch.

Q. (Question about Sonny Conto .)

ANDRE WARD: I’m going to field the question, because I heard probably half of it.

I think what you were asking was how does that affect Conto, his experience of sparring with some of the bigger-name heavy weights, Jesse Hart. It’s a fine line, right? For some young fighters who don’t get hit a lot, they’re not going into a training camp trying to be a sparring partner, it can be good. But you have to be sensible about that.

Now, if the work is just good work, 50/50 work, have good days, of course it’s going to help him improve. As long as Conto, and this is more for his heavyweight sparring, not so much his sparring with Hart, when he’s sparring the other heavyweights that are more established, he just has to have a boss mentality. He ain’t there to help. He’s there to give the champion or the contender rounds, but he’s also grooming himself to be a champion.

As long as he’s having those sparring sessions with the right mindset, it’s good, he has to go in from the right frame of mind.

JOE TESSITORE: Somebody from a recent generation is when a young man from Omaha did that with Tim in Palm Springs.

TIM BRADLEY.: Terence Crawford came out, helped me for the first fight. Before that, he helped me for the Devon Alexander fight. He wasn’t known. He was able to not only gain experience inside of the ring but outside of the ring, the way I carried myself out of the ring, how I was close to my family, how I managed my money and my time.

But Crawford took a lot from that camp. That’s another area where if Conto was hanging out with these guys, he has the ability to ask them questions and to spend time with them, not just in the ring, I’m talking about outside the ring. That way he can do the right thing.

Plus, one of the things that Terence always said when I was training with him is that — I would do four-minute rounds. Now Terence has adopted those four-minute rounds. He’s going to learn a whole heck of a lot sparring those guys.

On the downside, like Dre (Andre Ward) was saying, the downside is if you do have that sparring partner mentality, sparring these big guys, if you don’t feel like you’re the boss in there, you will fall in that area where you can be taking too much punishment.

I was never the guy to spar another champion, especially someone in my weight class. That was a no-no in my camp. I had a chance to spar Ricky Hatton, I said absolutely not. I had the chance to spar with Mayweather, I said absolutely not. Might fight him someday. I had a chance to spar Pacquiao. I may face him one day.

There was a fine line, but Conto can gain a lot of experience on this.

ANDRE WARD: My last point, you have to have that foresight. Even though I have two fights right now, this guy has 20 fights, something may happen, he may be around, I may face this man for all the marbles. He may have that reference point going back to the sparring session.

You can’t avoid every opportunity and just live in fear about it, but you got to have the foresight. You got to use wisdom.

The last part that I want to talk about is, this is the mindset, I’ll sum up the mindset, when you have to go in there like the boss. It’s not that you’re trying to abuse any unwritten gym rules or anything like that. Our goal in the two or three training camps that I’ve ever been a part of when I was a young fighter, either amateur or young pro, facing another champion, the goal is to get sent home. I want you to go to my team, It’s not what we’re looking for, it’s too much. That’s the boss mentality if you’re trying to be a champion in the ring one day. I think that young man is trying to be a champion in the ring one day.

Q. Andre and Tim, you both fought in Vegas. This will be Fury’s first fight in Vegas. How do you think he should fight to impress the fans?

ANDRE WARD: I think Tyson Fury being himself, that’s sufficient enough. It’s more than enough. I don’t think he has to reach into a bag of tricks. What hasn’t he done in the ring? He’s talked the talk, he’s walked the walk, backed it up. He’s a showman in the ring, outside the ring. He can fight. That’s the most important thing.

He passes the smell test, you know. There’s a lot of guys superficially that look a certain way. You start to take a hard look at them, they’re not what they are cracked up to be. Tyson Fury is the real deal, no doubt about that.

There is something special about fighting in Vegas. I’ve had only two opportunities, my last two fights, that will always be a special place in my heart.

You definitely want to put on a show. But being himself, staying within himself, that’s going to be more than enough.

TIM BRADLEY.: I like Tyson Fury. I think between him and Wilder, it’s a pick ’em fight. I typically like the boxer. Fury is that boxer. Fury is the type of fighter that you take him out, he’s the type of guy that gets you drunk before he mugs you. He’ll keep you spinning in circles.

He is very flamboyant personality, style, sense of style. You see his suits with all the lineal champions on it. This guy, he’s a seller. He wants to be the best heavyweight in the world. Right now Ring Magazine has him rated No. 1. I think they have it right. Wilder No. 2. Ruiz No. 3. They also have Joshua No. 4. I think they have it right.

I think that Fury, he needs to win this fight. I know American fans, they love knockouts. I think he could possibly get this knockout against Schwarz.

Las Vegas, we fought here in Las Vegas, let me tell you, the hype around this fight, being here, me driving in to Las Vegas, I mean, it got me nervous. It brought back so many feelings, memories of me coming here, traveling on the bus, getting to the MGM Grand, seeing my face on the side of the hotel. You know it’s real when you fight in Vegas.

Tom Schwarz is going to know. He knows right now. He’s having a lot of sleepless nights right now in his hotel room getting prepared for this fight. I think Tyson Fury is going to show the world why he’s the best heavyweight on Saturday night.

Q. Obviously, Ruiz has put his name in the hat as one of the top-heavyweights in the world with his defeat over Joshua. How do you see a matchup against Fury and Ruiz playing out? Does talk of Wilder-Fury II bringing us any close to Terence Crawford versus any top welterweights?

JOE TESSITORE: I think there’s great hope. I’ll answer that first. Obviously once you break through and you have people coming together on the network TV side, the promoter’s side and the advisor-manager side, a lot of this with Wilder and Fury, a lot of credit goes obviously to the promoters involved, but to Shelly Finkel, then folks involved in Top Rank, Creative Artists in L.A.

But, yes, it does give hope. There’s a common sense to it. But I also think that the fighters have to sit there and say to themselves, what fight do I want and what defines me. They’re the ones that have to want it.

I give great credit to Wilder and Fury saying, let’s do this, get this done, find a way. By the way, it’s also going to come truckloads of cash. That doesn’t hurt either.

As for Andy Ruiz, I have great respect for what he accomplished. He earned it. He took the belts. He put forth his game plan. He applied it. He acted like a fighter. He beat down Anthony Joshua.

I would tell you that my opinion is that stylistically and physically being in the ring with Tyson Fury would be a horrible matchup for Andy Ruiz because he would probably be stuck on the end of an 85-inch reach and a 6’9″ man jabbing and boxing. It would probably take the form that should have been Joshua-Ruiz. It will probably be more exaggerated with Fury versus Ruiz.

That doesn’t mean I don’t have great respect for what Ruiz did. He deserves to be a unified champion. Do I consider him one of the top two heavyweights on earth? No, I do not. Do I consider him a worthy champion who earned it? Yes, absolutely.

I think his victory against Joshua actually brings great clarity to the heavyweight division and helps the heavyweight division because it makes the Fury-Wilder rematch I would say universally accepted in everybody’s eyes as determining who is the best heavyweight on earth.

I don’t think anybody would put Andy Ruiz in that conversation. Do you recognize him as a worthy champion? Yes. Do you see him as somebody who can be considered the best heavyweight on earth? No.

TIM BRADLEY.: I agree with Tes (Joe Tessitore). (Indiscernible) makes fights. Ruiz, what he did, was unprecedented. No one, not even myself, thought that he was going to pull off that upset, and he did.

Anything can happen in the heavyweight division. But as Tessitore just said, if he gets in the ring with a guy like Tyson Fury, a guy that knows how to box, a guy that knows how to handle himself on the inside, a guy that uses his feet, his quick hands, and has punching power, and is 6’9″, Ruiz is six foot, if that, he’s going to have to jump up to hit a guy like Tyson Fury.

I think Tyson Fury will beat him easily, and probably even stop a Ruiz, no disrespect in any way, I’m just staying styles make fights.

ANDRE WARD: I would say this about the matchup hypothetically. On paper, like Joe Tessitore just said, stylistically if you look at the numbers, they don’t line up for Ruiz. They didn’t line up for Ruiz in his fight against Joshua.

The difference here is you have a big man in Tyson Fury who the IQ is a lot different than it is for Anthony Joshua. No slight on Anthony. If you really look at it, Joshua has only been fighting 11 years. In my opinion, with everything he’s done as a professional, he’s an overachiever. He doesn’t have the 200, 300 amateur fight background. When you don’t have that pedigree, you haven’t started boxing in your formative years, there’s certain things inside of a ring that can be taught, but there’s certain things that are caught. Certain things from experience you know when to do it, how to do it, where to do it.

You can see certain spots in the fight with Anthony Joshua and Ruiz where Joshua should have asserted himself, he should have used his size to tie Ruiz up, push him back. You see Joshua moving around in the first couple rounds as if he was the smaller man. That’s not going to happen in a fight with Tyson Fury I don’t believe, but I would like to see it.

As far as the welterweight division, of course I hope everything that we’re seeing from the heavyweight division and even the light heavyweight division, the willingness of the other fighters, the other champions, to get inside the ring and face each other to determine a unified or undisputed champion. I hope that that trickles down to the welterweight division on the business side as well as for the fighters.

Here is the thing, said it multiple times, I’ll say it again: There’s a time and a place to marinate the meat. There’s a time and place to cook the meat. If you marinate the meat too long, the meat is no longer good. You have to be sensitive about marinating, building up a fight to make sure that window, the maximum window from a legacy standpoint as well as a monetary standpoint to make the most possible money.

Make no mistake about it, this is prize fighting. The promoters, the networks, the fighters are in this sport to build a legacy, but to get the biggest prize. In order for Errol Spence to get the biggest prize, in my opinion, he has to face Crawford. He can face Shawn Porter, who I have a great deal of respect for. If they fight, it is not going to be an easy fight for either man. He can face Danny Garcia, another fighter have a lot of respect for. That’s not going to be an easy fight.

I believe the biggest payday, legacy stamp for Errol Spence and Terence Crawford, is for them to face each other. I do believe at some point in time, hopefully in the near future, we’ll see that fight.

TIM BRADLEY.: He’s talking about the money, the No. 1 guy in the division. That means a lot. That means a lot to a fighter. I fought Manny Pacquiao three times. What are we waiting for as far as Errol Spence-Terence Crawford fight? That fight can do three fights, you know. They can make a whole lot of money. That’s the fight that everybody wants to see.

I think the start, if we have Wilder fighting against Fury, if we can get that rematch, I think it could possibly open up doors for other big fights. Both sides can meet in the middle. We can make these big fights that everybody wants to see.

ANDRE WARD: I’ll add one more thing. It’s not lost on us that what Spence and Haymon are doing, it’s not lost on us what the game plan is. We get it. They hold most of the welterweight belts. We understand it. We’re not ignorant towards that point and that fact.

That being said, on the surface the strategy is a pretty good one. But neither welterweight, Spence or Terence Crawford, can legitimately call themselves the best welterweight in the world if they don’t face each other. They’re supposed to feel as if they’re the best in the world, but there’s a difference. You can’t ultimately know, you will not know unless you actually lock horns with the other baddest man in the division, on the block, and see who comes out on the other side. You can’t call yourself the best until that happens.

I know Spence and I know Crawford. I believe that ultimately both guys want to get it done, I think they just want to get it done at the right time.

There’s another guy named Keith Thurman that just came back. He’s fighting Manny Pacquiao. I’m picking him to beat Manny. He’s another undefeated guy in his division. Talking to him, he feels he’s the best in the division.

There’s a lot of fights man. I’m telling you, there’s so many great fights in each division right now. Boxing is hot. It’s going to start at the heavyweight division. I hope it dwindles down into the lower weight classes as well.

Q. I was reading some quote from Tyson Fury. He said he liked boxing because boxing makes him happy. I want anybody to comment about what you think about that. Some people, this is a business. He says he wants to keep fighting until he’s 40. Looks like he really enjoys what he’s doing. Also, can you add how much his experience as an amateur boxer helps him now as a professional.

ANDRE WARD: For a fighter, an average person, I’ll start there, that comment sounds crazy. You’re happy getting in a ring and fighting another man. You like to get hit. That’s cool to you. It is. You got to be a little crazy to be a fighter, just a little bit, hopefully not a lot, but just a little bit. We all got a screw or two loose which allows us to take off our robe and have eight- or 10-ounce gloves on, get in the ring and fight another man in front of the whole world.

Even beyond the fighting part, for me it was the gym. I’ve gotten off of some tough phone calls as I’m pulling up to the gym, and for some reason I was able to compartmentalize what I just heard on the phone, go in there and get a two and a half hour workout and be dead to everything else going on in the outside world.

That’s what fighters miss. That’s why you see fighters come back. Now you’re facing life and you don’t really have that out. That’s why they tell retired athletes to find another out, find another passion. I think that’s what he’s talking about as far as that.

Of course, his amateur background in his formative years of learning the sport, fighting at an international level, of course it helped him. There are anomalies. You have Tevin Farmer, guys that started late, somehow he’s showing a skill set as if he had a hundred or two hundred amateur fights. That’s an anomaly, rare case. Typically you see guys that make it to the top, stay there for a long time, they have that amateur pedigree.

TIM BRADLEY.: Like Dre (Andre Ward) said, when I would go into the gym, when you absolutely love something, it’s not a job, it’s not work. It’s fun. It truly is fun.

With Tyson Fury, fighting in in his blood, man. 200 years, bare knuckle fighting, the ‘Gypsy King’ seriously. I’m talking about on both sides. On his mother’s side, on his father’s side, his uncles, nephews, even the girls fought. Everybody fought in his family. Fighting is in his blood.

He’s having fun now. I think before, even when he started his career, he was having fun. So he knows how to fight. This guy is named after Mike Tyson. He was raised watching Ali and Tyson videos. He has the punching power similar to Mike Tyson. He can punch.

Also the hand speed and fluidity, just the movement as a 6’9″, 265-pound heavyweight, super heavyweight, moving, light on his feet, floating around like a butterfly, boy, stinging like a bee. That’s Fury. That’s Tyson Fury.

He’s excited. A lot of money in the sport. He’s made a lot of money. He’s going to continue to make a lot of money. That’s another motivating factor for him. Like I said, fighting is in his blood, man. It’s in his blood.

For me, it was the same way. It was in my blood. I love to fight, but there comes an end. My end came two years ago.

Q. Tim and Andre, from a fighter perspective, when you are a guy coming into the big fight, you’re the underdog, you see two weeks earlier another guy pull off a major upset, does that inspire a little more confidence that anything is possible, you can pull off the upset, or does that not really play a role or a factor in mental preparation for the fight?

TIM BRADLEY.: You’re saying Tom Schwarz is equal to Ruiz?

Q. No, Anthony Joshua being considered by some to be on the same level more or less than Tyson Fury.

TIM BRADLEY.: I say this over and over. Styles make fights. The unexpected is all around us every single day. We don’t even know when we’re going to lose our life. Honestly, you don’t.

I think Schwarz definitely has a puncher’s chance. He has a right hand, packs a right hand. We’ve seen in the past Tyson Fury go down from right hands. We see him go down with Wilder’s right hand. Steve Cunningham knocks him down with a right hand. You also see Fury gets up, he gets up, then he dominates and finishes that round, then he comes back and knocks guys out or he wins the fight.

You see the fight desire in Fury. I think experience alone through his whole career is going to help him in this fight.

Schwarz is big enough, 6’6″, not small, not like Ruiz who is a small heavyweight. He’s big enough. But I think he lacks experience. I think he lacks speed. Like I said, he has a puncher’s chance. He doesn’t have the footwork or the IQ I believe to beat a guy like Tyson Fury.

ANDRE WARD: I’ll say about Ruiz-Joshua, how that could help Schwarz, it should. Him watching that fight obviously being in the division he competes in, Anthony Joshua was a guy that was obviously in the headlines with Tyson Fury a lot, they would possibly meet in a domestic showdown, et cetera. That should motivate Schwarz.

I hope it didn’t take that fight for him to gain the confidence that he needs to beat Tyson Fury. I hope when the contract was signed, that confidence was already in place. He’s going to need every bit of that to upset the apple cart and to dethrone Tyson Fury as the lineal champion.

Of course, that’s inspiration. Those things help. They shouldn’t be the end all, be all. It should be more fuel on his fire that I hope is already burning extremely high with this opportunity that he has.

The stage is set. The table is set for Schwarz. He has to go out there and believe in himself and go out there and do what he has to do, but it’s not going to be easy.

TIM BRADLEY JR.: He better believe in magic, I tell you that.

JOE TESSITORE: I just want to thank everybody for being on. The one thing I would take pause and take one big step back is how refreshing this time in the sport is that we sit here and we can get a full card like this on a streaming service for the coffee I just paid for at Starbucks for an entire month of content on ESPN, rather than companies depending on the economic relief of Pay-Per-View to put forth a major nine-figure deal to sign a fighter like Tyson Fury.

This is better for the fight fan in every way, as what DAZN did a few weeks ago, as what’s going to happen in early 2020 with Top Rank and PBC working together. The sport has saved itself. We’re feeling that right now. This is a great example of how a major star like Fury coming to the States, signing a mega deal, you don’t need the economic relief of Pay-Per-View for a fight against a guy like Schwarz, you can give it to fans who are on an app for the largest sports network in America.

By Bart Barry-

Saturday or Sunday on ESPN+ Russian Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev decisioned Colombian Eleider “Storm” Alvarez in Texas to reclaim one of the titles Kovalev won, in part, by losing so spectacularly to Andre Ward in 2017 that Ward decided to retire on the highest note of his career. In avenging his latest knockout loss, Kovalev boxed well, Saturday, and Alvarez did not, and that was that.

Kovalev is and will be remembered as a b-level prizefighter cleverly presented as much more by a b-level network, in mid-descent from a-level, a symptom more than a cause, a titlist folded in half by the only a-level prizefighter he faced – average ingredients well-prepared during a famine. Much of what happened Saturday, much of what you’ll read and hear for the rest of Kovalev’s career, is and will be about preserving illusive credibility despite concessions to illusions past.

“Others are wrong!” in other words, not “I was right.” Overtraining this or distractions that. Paeans to Kovalev’s age aside, what aficionados saw in Kovalev-Alvarez 2 was the same guy they saw tentatively box to victory against Bernard Hopkins, a once a-level prizefighter 50 or so days from his 50th birthday.

Now that we have the hindsight of the same B-Hop being knocked outframe, outboxing, outring by Joe Smith 13 months after Kovalev’s careful showing we might reexamine our insightfulness before we reappraise Kovalev. Could he punch? Sure he could. Was he a frontrunner? Sure he was. Could he finish? Yup. Was he great? No, never.

There’s selfservice in Andre Ward’s ongoing postrematch analyses of Kovalev, even while there needn’t be, an opening desire to reassert Ward’s superiority followed by a closing desire to burnish Ward’s legacy a smidgen more at halfprice. What remains constant as gravity, though, is a fact like: Were Ward and Kovalev matched at Ward’s best weight, not Kovalev’s, Ward would’ve gone 10-0 (10 KOs) in both this lifetime and the next.

Saturday’s question, finally, isn’t whether Kovalev underwent some historic revision in one training camp with Buddy McGirt (he didn’t) or whether Eleider Alvarez underwent some historic dissipation in the last halfyear, but why we actually care. Some of it, though much less than years past, is standard Stockholm-syndrome stuff. The January boxing calendar is historically anemic, leading young fans and pundits to get unseemly giddy at anything better than an obviously mediocre happening before March.

Most of it, though, is vestigial HBO hype. Like the network’s defunct commentary trio scoring midrounds according to prefight prejudice, quite a few of us did not notice HBO’s shift from singular authority to underbudgeted shell, when it happened, because it was incremental.

The emerging consensus is that HBO Sports’ last great boxing authority was Lou DiBella, who left the network in 2000. That feels about right. The talents and promotional relationships DiBella built and featured carried the network a little less than a decade before the network’s dearth of knowledgeable programmers began showing its ribs. The departure of a talented producer though talentless programmer in 2010 began the qualitative freefall that followed. Wealthy and knowledgeable became wealthy and gullible became middleclass and gullible became poor and gullible became canceled.

Nearabout HBO’s middleclass and gullible stage arrived a surfeit of prizefighters raised in the Soviet Union to prey, at once, on the juvenile nightmares and adulthood nostalgia of fiftysomething viewers. It took little in the way of imaginative squinting, then, for HBO Sports’ target demographic to see in Kovalev, and his fellow Eurasian bogeyman, Gennady Golovkin, far more than what they actually were (later confirmed, of course, when both were beaten by smaller men from North America, “controversially”). A reflexive reality still happened in viewers’ minds and that reality affected commentators’ perceptions even as they sought to affect viewers’ perceptions.

One monument to this, probably the greatest, was Kovalev-Hopkins in 2014. Kovalev dropped Hopkins in their first round together and then did not imperil him again in the 11 that followed. A fearsome 31-year-old puncher, in other words, was unable to snatch consciousness from his dad in 36 minutes of trying. Absurd as that sentence reads today we all obeyed a tacit moratorium on calling it what it was – desperate as we were to keep the juggling balls in the air, to contend our oncegreat sport broadcasted on a oncegreat network was something more than risible goofy. Surrealer still was the twoyear, fourfight Kovalev victory pageant HBO hosted in the great man’s honor after Kovalev decisioned a man 10 years nearer Social Security eligibility than his physical prime.

This really happened. You may even be old enough to remember it.

It took super middleweight Andre Ward 20 rounds to do it, but this too happened surely enough: Kovalev, eyes averted, belly up, offered himself to Ward with thighs splayed – the better to be sniffed – in an act of animal submission more ably narrated by David Attenborough than Jim Lampley.

And still HBO persisted! This time with silly opponents and sillier narratives right up until Kovalev got himself whupped by a shortnotice Colombian making a world-title-match debut after his 33rd birthday. Yet another coursecorrection ensued and Eleider Alvarez, a man who’d knocked-out a perfectly symmetrical if entirely unimpressive 12 of 24 opponents, became some Andean beast whose fists Kovalev would need God’s own luck to survive.

OK, fair point: This last was ESPN’s manufacture, not HBO’s. Alvarez regressed to his mean; the Krusher character begins its next rewrite. Fortunately Kovalev’s latest comeback has found its proper platform, off premium cable and on a $5/month boxing-after-midnight app.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

Las Vegas (September 14, 2018) – Some of the biggest stars and legends will be appearing TOMORROW at the 4th annual Box Fan Expo at The Las Vegas Convention Center.

Mikey Garcia, Errol Spence Jr., Andre Ward, Juan Manuel Marquez, Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, James Toney will be among the over 40 fighters, promoters, sanctioning bodies and apparel companies that will be on hand for this very special event.

About Box Fan Expo
Box Fan Expo is the ultimate boxing fan experience event, which allows fans to meet-and- greet boxing superstars of today, current and former world champions, legends of the sport and other boxing celebrities. Fans can expect to experience various interactions such as autograph and photos sessions, FaceOff with your favorite boxers, pictures with the Ring Card Girls, Live DJ Music, chance to win prizes, purchase merchandise and memorabilia from different booths Exhibitors, “ALL UNDER ONE ROOF”. You won’t want to miss this must-attend Expo!

Box Fan Expo has been a huge success with fans and boxing industry people. Many boxing stars have attended the last three Expos such as Floyd Mayweather, Mike Tyson, Roberto Duran, Tommy Hearns, Marco Antonio Barrera, Roy Jones Jr., Marcos Maidana, Sergio Martinez, Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia, Tim Bradley, Deontay Wilder, Amir Khan, Shawn Porter, Fernando Vargas, Zab Judah, James Toney, Vinny Pazienza, Mikey Garcia , Mia St.Johns, Leo Santa Cruz, Badou Jack, Terry Norris , Riddick Bowe , Earnie Shavers, Leon Spinks, Danny Jacobs, Abner Mares, Jorge Linares, Brandon Rios and many more…

Exhibitors such as boxing gear, apparel, new equipment’s, energy drinks, alcohol, supplement products, broadcasting media, sanctioning bodies and other companies who wish to participate will once again have a chance to showcase their brand to fans, media and the boxing industry.

Tickets to the Box Fan Expo are available online at:
https://boxfanexpo.eventbrite.com

Contact Us:
Telephone number: (514) 572-7222 or Las Vegas Number (702) 997-1927

For any inquiries please email: [email protected]

More information on Box Fan Expo visit: http://www.boxfanexpo.com

Follow Box Fan Expo on Twitter and Instagram at: @BoxFanExpo

Follow Box Fan Expo on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/BoxFanExpo

Las Vegas (August 28, 2018) – Two division world champion Andre “SOG” Ward has confirmed that that he will have a booth and interact with the fans at the Las Vegas Convention Center for the 4th Annual Box Fan Expo on Saturday September 15, 2018, during Mexican Independence Day weekend.

Ward will make his First appearance at this years’ Expo and will be signing autographs and also have merchandise for sale for fans to enjoy. Boxing Fans will have an opportunity to also take pictures with this boxing superstar and the former #1 Pound for Pound best Boxer in the world at the SON OF GOD Apparel Booth for more info go to: http://andresogward.com/

Ward joins Abner Mares, Mikey Garcia, James Toney, Mayweather Promotions, WBC, WBA, Thomas Hearns, David Benavidez, José Benavidez, Badou Jack, Mia St.John, Jessie Vargas, Erik Morales and Fernando Vargas as an early commitment to this year’s Box Fan Expo.

About Andre Ward
Andre Ward is an Olympic gold medalist and former super middleweight and light heavyweight weight world champion. He retired with an undefeated record in September of 2017 and held multiple world titles in two weight classes, including the unified WBA (Super), WBC, Ring magazine, and lineal super middleweight titles between 2009 and 2015; and the unified WBA, IBF, WBO, and Ring light heavyweight titles between 2016 and 2017. During his reign as light heavyweight champion, Ward was ranked as the world’s best active boxer, pound for pound, by The Ring magazine and the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB), as well as the world’s best active boxer in the division by The Ring, the TBRB, and BoxRec.

As an amateur, Ward won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 2004 Olympics and turned professional later that year. He rose to worldwide prominence and entered the Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament in 2009, where he won the WBA (Super) super middleweight title from Mikkel Kessler in the opening group stage. In 2011, Ward defeated WBC champion Carl Froch in the tournament final to unify the titles, as well as winning the vacant Ring and lineal titles. That same year, Ward was named Fighter of the Year by The Ring and the Boxing Writers’ Association of America. He later won The Ring’s Comeback of the Year award in 2016.

The highly anticipated bout between “SOG” Ward versus Sergey Kovalev to determine who was the best light heavyweight in the world lived up to its billing as the two battled on November 19th, 2016 for 12 hard fought rounds at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Ward battled back from an early knockdown to take over the bout and win a unanimous decision victory and hand Kovalev his first professional defeat. Fans and pundits alike clamored for a rematch and Ward granted their wish. The two met a second time on June 17, 2017 at Mandalay Bay to once again settle the score and Ward ensured that all questions were answered with a definitive eight round TKO to retain his light heavyweight titles.

About Box Fan Expo
Box Fan Expo is the ultimate boxing fan experience event, which allows fans to meet-and- greet boxing superstars of today, current and former world champions, legends of the sport and other boxing celebrities. Fans can expect to experience various interactions such as autograph and photos sessions, FaceOff with your favorite boxers, pictures with the Ring Card Girls, Live DJ Music, chance to win prizes, purchase merchandise and memorabilia from different booths Exhibitors, “ALL UNDER ONE ROOF”. You won’t want to miss this must-attend Expo!

Box Fan Expo has been a huge success with fans and boxing industry people. Many boxing stars have attended the last three Expos such as Floyd Mayweather, Mike Tyson, Roberto Duran, Tommy Hearns, Marco Antonio Barrera, Roy Jones Jr., Marcos Maidana, Sergio Martinez, Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia, Tim Bradley, Deontay Wilder, Amir Khan, Shawn Porter, Fernando Vargas, Zab Judah, James Toney, Vinny Pazienza, Mikey Garcia , Mia St.Johns, Leo Santa Cruz, Badou Jack, Terry Norris , Riddick Bowe , Earnie Shavers, Leon Spinks, Danny Jacobs, Abner Mares, Jorge Linares, Brandon Rios and many more…

Exhibitors such as boxing gear, apparel, new equipment’s, energy drinks, alcohol, supplement products, broadcasting media, sanctioning bodies and other companies who wish to participate will once again have a chance to showcase their brand to fans, media and the boxing industry.

Tickets to the Box Fan Expo are available online at:
https://boxfanexpo.eventbrite.com

Throughout the next few weeks leading up to the Event, there will be weekly updates on the many stars that will commit their appearance at the Boxing Expo. And for anyone in the Boxing industry or other Exhibitors (non-industry), who would like to be involved and reserve a Booth,

Contact Us:
Telephone number: (514) 572-7222 or Las Vegas Number (702) 997-1927

For any inquiries please email: [email protected]

More information on Box Fan Expo visit: http://www.boxfanexpo.com

Follow Box Fan Expo on Twitter and Instagram at: @BoxFanExpo

Follow Box Fan Expo on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/BoxFanExpo

By Bart Barry-

Sundays like these you spend wondering if this will be it, the last Sunday, the one when the words or at least the impetus to type the words won’t come eventually. Last was scheduled for a thoroughly mediocre weekend of prizefighting and should’ve remained such but for the surprise effect of a Colombian-Canadian light heavyweight who finished what work Bernard Hopkins demonstrated as possible and Andre Ward made manifest.

There was never too much to recommend Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev but cruelty and his promoter, Kathy Duva, who is excellent at her craft and among the final and most-deserving beneficiaries of HBO’s collapsed empire. Kovalev himself was not particularly compelling unless he represented a chance at unification, which we learned last month be among the most-compelling products boxing can deliver, but once such a unification gambit went away with Adonis Stevenson’s departure for another network Kovalev became a frontrunner bully the totality of whose offseason outreach comprised punching a keyring speedbag when HBO cameras reliably panned to him during most every broadcast.

Kovalev won a boring decision over Bernard “The Fighting Quinquagenarian” Hopkins and got copious plaudits for so doing. Then Andre Ward showed the world what was what, and Kovalev rode down the usual rebranding conveyor, firing what cornermen built him and traumatizing overmatched challengers en route to a manufactured title or two. HBO ran out of money not so quickly as it ran out of talent, and so Kovalev benefited alongside his comrade at middleweight, and Danny Jacobs.

Saturday made future benefiting considerably more difficult when Alvarez fragiled Kovalev more clearly even than Ward did, dropping him thricely and yanking the bitch out him unforgettably as Ward did, which is another way of writing: There aren’t enough Vyacheslav Shabranskyys in Christendom to make Kovalev viable again unless he avenges what just happened, and he doesn’t have it in him to do that – Alvarez knowing what he now knows goes through Kovalev quicker next time, as did Ward – and so Krusher’s network is down to a couple middleweights, the super flyweight division and Andre the Giant.

This should be a celebration of Eleider Alvarez, I get that I do, but it’s too late to reverse course and was too late to do so even when a couple disbelieving texts arrived in what felt like the middle of Saturday night.

Since a weekend headlined by Kovalev, Andre Berto and Devon Alexander hasn’t quickened the pulse in a halfdecade, if ever, previous considerations for this column revolved round Lucas Matthysse’s retirement and the man who caused it and why that man continues to fight, and if there’s not 1,000 words of interest round those subjects there’s at least enthusiasm for them where there wasn’t for what preceded them.

Matthysse feels a bit like Kovalev, though it might be the calendar allowing such clumsiness of analogy; excellent in a firefight in which he’s sure he’s the outgunner but fragile in the clutch. Life’s not so symmetrical but if Krusher announces his retirement in a couple weeks the analogy matures to metaphor, and there’s another column written during the slog betwixt now and GolovCanelo 2, though I’ve a plan for just that (see author’s note below).

What’s more interesting are Manny Pacquiao’s reasons for continuing to fight. Before Pacquiao’s successful showing against Matthysse, newsletterman Rafe Bartholomew’s enjoyable “Respect Box” made insightful counterarguments against the Manny-is-broke refrain that was never convincing as its selfinterested proponents believed. Here’s a sample:

“We apply the ‘Joe Louis, casino-greeter’ narrative to Pacquiao, when it’s not a perfect fit, and we have no real way to know how rich or poor he is. The articles about Pacquiao’s finances tend to quote Freddie Roach, Bob Arum, and other Americans with some but not full insight into his situation.”

The first thing many of us noticed about Pacquiao many years ago was the joy he exuded during ringwalks – he was so delightfully eager to fight. Only Felix Trinidad springs to mind as a man so enchanted by the prospect of public combat and the injury and humiliation it might bring. While many of us can imagine the euphoria a victory might cause and imagine the humiliation a defeat might summon very few of us have the experience needed to calculate a quotient that makes one justify the other.

Probably none of us does, not even Manny or Tito. Their secret, then, is to revel in the entirety of the event, to derive euphoria from leaving the hotel room, driving to the arena and touching the toes, taping the hands and watching how nervous others around them are for them in the dressingroom, listening to their names called and punching another man in the face, being punched by him, too, and being nearly unconscious with exertion. That sort of autogenerated presence, addictive, is enough to keep a man sparring till 50 other men in empty gyms – much less thrilling a full and feral arena, a deafening collective of other men momentarily freed from their lives’ every worry. Much less making an entire country suddenly proud.

What replaces that feeling? Certainly not legislative matters or the campaign trail. Certainly not concerns about abstractions over future health. And most especially not watching the digits grow in one’s checking account.

If Manny does not fight on solely for the boundless thrill of it, that thrill, anyone can concede, is a part of why Manny fights on. Would that any man’s passion might make others so euphoric.

*

Author’s note: This column will not appear next week, as its author will be in Ecuador to get krushed by a hike up Rucu Pichincha volcano.

*

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

Undefeated two-division world champion and 2004 Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward, has agreed to a new multiyear deal with ESPN, it was announced today. Under the agreement, Ward will serve as an on-site studio boxing analyst for ESPN.

“We are thrilled to have reached this agreement with Andre,” said Mark Gross, ESPN senior vice president, production and remote events. “Andre’s experience in the ring, wealth of knowledge and passion for boxing will further enrich our live boxing coverage and provide fans a unique perspective of the sport.”

Added Ward: “I’m excited to officially become a part of ESPN’s broadcast team. ESPN’s new boxing platform is an opportunity for today’s talent to be exposed to a wider audience and it pushes the sport forward. My desire is to be an asset to those watching all over the world by giving viewers an unbiased, educated opinion that is clear and concise.”

Ward, the former Ring Magazine number one Pound-For-Pound fighter and former Unified Light Heavyweight Champion of the World, will make his next onsite appearance at Atlantic City Ocean Resort Casino Saturday, August 18th, for ESPN’s telecast of Top Rank on ESPN headlined by heavyweight contender Bryant “B.Y.” Jennings (23-2, 13 KOs) facing off Alexander “Sascha” Dimitrenko (41-3, 26 KOs), airing at 10 p.m. on ESPN and ESPN Deportes. On August 25th, Ward will be onsite at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona for ESPN’s coverage of Top Rank on ESPN featuring Ray Beltrán defending the WBO lightweight title against former junior lightweight world champion, Jose “Sniper” Pedraza.

Andre Ward has been named the Host of the revitalized show The Contender, while Freddie Roach and Naazim Richardson have been named trainers for the show that will be back this fall on EPIX, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“It is so important for ‘The Contender’ to have the best and most trusted boxing experts, which is why we reached out to Andre, Freddy and Naazim,” Exexutive Producer Mark Burnett said. “They are the very best and can help create an experience almost never seen before. [Executive producer] Eric [Van Wagenen] and I are really excited to exceed the fans’ expectations. We love ‘The Contender’ and we love boxing.”

“I have faced the unique challenges of professional boxing firsthand and know the focus required to succeed at the highest level,” said Ward, who was undefeated as a pro and was a 2004 Olympic gold medalist. “Hosting a show that has enabled so many talented fighters to reach their dreams is an honor and I look forward to giving the fans unique insight into the life of a fighter and leading the audience through the thrills of this competition.”

OAKLAND, CA. (February 23, 2018) – Super middleweight Andre Dirrell is preparing for his rematch with Jose Uzcategui by working with renowned trainer Virgil Hunter and former pound-for-pound great Andre Ward ahead of his showdown for the Interim IBF Super Middleweight title Saturday, March 3 live on SHOWTIME (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT) from Barclays Center, the home of BROOKLYN BOXING™.

The Premier Boxing Champions event is headlined by the highly anticipated matchup between heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder and unbeaten challenger Luis Ortiz.

Tickets for the live event, which is promoted by DiBella Entertainment and TGB Promotions, start at $50 and are on sale now. To purchase tickets, visit Ticketmaster.com, BarclaysCenter.com, or call 800-745-3000. Tickets for the event can also be purchased at the American Express Box Office at Barclays Center.

Dirrell has moved his training camp out to Oakland to train with Hunter and gain wisdom from being around Ward. Ward for his part, feels Dirrell has not yet reached his potential in the ring.

“The way I feel about Andre is the way I’ve always felt, the sky’s the limit,” said the recently retired Ward. “He has the God-given ability and talent to do whatever he wants to do in a boxing ring. In other words, he is blessed with the kind of gifts, that if he’s made up his mind that he won’t allow himself to be beat and if he prepares properly in camp, it’s going to be very hard to beat him.

“With a fighter with Andre’s experience and pedigree, it’s less physical and more psychological. Do you want to be a champion and do you want to dominate your division? If the answer is yes, which I believe it is, then go do it. It sounds simple and in many ways it is, but you have to be very intentional to condition your mind to think this way and really believe it. That’s the reason he is training with Virgil in the Bay Area. Physical training, mental preparation & spiritual preparation. It all matters.”

Here is part of what Dirrell had to say about training camp with Hunter and Ward. Read the full story HERE via PremierBoxingChampions.com.

What are some of the nuances Virgil brings, and will your grandfather, Leon “Bumper” Lawson, remain in your corner?

“Virgil is teaching me similarly to the way my grandfather taught me, and I can easily say that he’s picking up where my grandfather left off. My grandfather put my talents in me, making me the fighter Andre Ward had to worry about back in the day.

“But my grandfather doesn’t have the ability to coach really anymore because he’s in the beginning stages of dementia, but I still have him in my corner, and I always will. Virgil has taken over, and this is bar-none, the best I’ve felt, mentally, in my career. There are little things about Virgil that I had to adapt to.

“Virgil’s sense of humor is raw, playful and serious at the same time. If I stop for one minute, he’ll tell me, ‘It takes one second to get knocked out.’ He teaches with passion, direction and remains focused on the task at hand, really wanting you to instill how important things are, psychologically.”

How beneficial is the atmosphere in Virgil’s gym?

“There is a positive aura in the gym, which is a winning environment. When you walk into that gym, it’s time to work. Virgil lets you know that simply by staring at you. You have Andre Ward’s posters all around you, other fighters’ posters around you. There are a lot of fighters’ faces up on those gym walls, including Andre Berto’s.

“I’m definitely inspired because the atmosphere has everything to offer as far as training. You have the mountains, the beaches. And of course, ultimately, you have Virgil, who has flair about him and a way to generate that fire within you and bring it out of you. The most important thing with Virgil is listening.”

What counsel have you received from Ward?

“Andre’s never really showed any hesitation about offering advice and has always been there to give it to me, no problem at all. Andre has always been cordial and honest about wanting to see me hold that championship belt. I believe that he’ll see that this year.

“But I can imagine that now that he’s out of the game, he can do it more freely. I recently had a 45-minute conversation over the phone with him about Jesus Christ, but, face-to-face, we’ve spoken quite often. He came down for a few of my sparring sessions and he’ll be coming to a few more.

“We’ve always talked and had a good time, and he’s been quite an inspiration, aside from being a boxer. Andre has a confidence about himself in and out of the ring, so he’s one of the top guys in my life as a motivator for life outside of and beyond boxing.”

Has Virgil broken down the Uzecategui fight?

“Virgil has watched the fight several times, and I’ve watched the fight several times. We both agreed that the mistakes were definitely all mine and both agree that I didn’t use my ring generalship.

“Even with the flaws that I was committing, I still found my groove. I heard myself saying that I had gotten his timing down and was taking over leading up to the end of the fight.

“Uzecategui is a fighter, but that’s it – he’s no boxer. He has great punching ability but not great skills and he’s not fast, so I expect him to attack me like the first fight. He knows how to put a one-two-three together, and he’s hungry.

“As far as boxing goes, I’ll have to teach him a thing or two about how this game is really played. There’s no question I made the first fight harder than it had to be. I look at that first fight with so much confidence.

“I know that I fought it incorrectly, but I was still coming back. He won the first, second and possibly third and fourth rounds, but I was coming back. So this time, I plan on frustrating this boy so much that he’ll be completely off of his game.”

# # #

For more information visit www.premierboxingchampions.com,
follow us on Twitter @PremierBoxing, @LouDiBella, @TGBPromotions, @BarclaysCenter, @Brooklyn_Boxing and @Swanson_Comm or become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/barclayscenter,
and www.Facebook.com/DiBellaEntertainment. PBC is sponsored by Corona Extra, La Cerveza Mas Fina.

MIAMI, Florida – Top light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera is working hard in the second half of his training camp for his March 3rd HBO televised clash against WBA light heavyweight champoin Dmitry Bivol.

The 35-year-old former Cuban amateur standout has been on quite a run. After losing a unanimous decision to the now retired former pound-for-pound king Andre Ward, Barrera has put together a four fight win streak against the likes of Vyacheslav Shabranskyy, Paul “Pay Per View” Parker, Joe Smith Jr. and the hard hitting Felix Valera.

While that is an impressive list, Barrera knows that none of those opponents are as formidable as the challenge that lies ahead of him on March 3rd at The Theatre at Madison Square Garden.

“Bivol is a great fighter. He will be the second best fighter I have faced and second only to Andre Ward,” said Barrera. “He has a great amateur pedigree and has been knocking out the majority of his opponents. I know I need to bring my ‘A’ game to beat him.”

Bivol has stopped his previous four opponents and only 2 of his 12 victims have made it to the final bell. Barrera has a lot of respect for his opponent and believes his power is legitimate.

“He has knocked guys out with one punch. I know I have to be careful in there. He is a very confident fighter. He knows he has power and knows how to get in position to use it. That is why I am taking him very seriously,” Barrera explained.

Barrera knows that a victory over Bivol will open a lot of doors as fights against champions like Sergey Kovalev, the Adonis Stevenson-Badou Jack winner and Artur Beterbiev could be available to him but the Cuban refuses to look ahead.

“March 3rd is all that matters. God willing I get the win and then we can talk about future plans but right now I am focused on Bivol. I know I have to concentrate on him and give him all of my attention,” said Barrera.

It’s a holiday treat for HBO Boxing fans. Over four consecutive nights in late December, HBO will present seven of the year’s standout fights, spotlighting some of the biggest names in the sport. Featured are signature wins by Anthony Joshua, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, Sadam Ali and Andre Ward plus the high-stakes middleweight showdown last September between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin that was judged a draw before a capacity crowd at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Starting Tuesday, Dec. 26, HBO will replay seven major league showdowns from this year sprinkled over four consecutive nights. All the fights will also be available on HBO NOW, HBO GO®, HBO On Demand® and affiliate portals.

The “Boxing’s Best” lineup includes:

Tuesday, December 26 Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin &

11:00 p.m. ET/PT Orlando Salido vs. Miguel Roman

Wednesday, December 27 Roman Gonzalez vs. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai I

11:30 p.m. ET/PT & Miguel Cotto vs. Sadam Ali

Thursday, December 28 David Lemieux vs. Curtis Stevens &

11:00 p.m. ET/PT Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev 2

Friday, December 29 Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko

11:00 p.m. ET/PT

Oxnard, CA: Former unified light heavyweight world champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (30-2-1, 26 KOs) did a lot of soul-searching after his controversial loss to Andre “S.O.G” Ward over the summer in Las Vegas, Nevada. He travelled back to his home in Russia for several months with his wife, Natalia, and his son Aleksandr and even spent time meditating at a monastery in Greece. After months of contemplation, he decided it was time to sever his relationship with long-time trainer, John David Jackson.

When Kovalev began the first half of his training camp in Big Bear Lake, California for his upcoming bout with Vyacheslav “Lion-Heart Chingonskyy” Shabranskyy (19-1, 16 KOs), he had not yet settled on a new trainer, but he did have his eye on someone. One of the first fighters signed by Sergey’s promotional company, Krusher Promotions, is a middleweight prospect from Grozny, Russia named Bakhram Murtazaliev. After Bakhram began training at the Boxing Laboratory in Oxnard, California with Kovalev, Sergey became impressed by his trainer, Abror Tursunpulatov of Uzbekistan.

Tursunpulatov is best known for working with 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist Fazliddin Gaibnazarov and other members of the Uzbekistan Olympic Team. Seeing what Tursunpulatov did for Murtazaliev in his last two fights, Kovalev decided that Abror was the perfect person to train him for his upcoming battle with Shabranskyy.

Tursunpulatov is a quiet man who does not actively seek the spotlight, so Kovalev decided to announce his choice in a simple Instagram post where he said, [translated from Russian] “I’m presenting you my coaches of physical conditioning, Aleksandr Sedov, and boxing coach, Arbor Tursunpulatov. I feel very comfortable to be working together and preparing for Kovalev vs. Shabranskyy at MSG in New York City. Hope our connection will bring us new success for my boxing career.”

Left to Right: Tursunpulatov, Kovalev and Sedov
Photo Credit: Instagram @SergeyKrusherKovalev

When asked about the personnel change, Kovalev’s manager, Egis Klimas replied, “I’m just happy that Sergey found someone who can train him and I’m happy that Sergey is listening to somebody, which means a lot because I believe the trainer needs to have the respect from the fighter and it can’t be the other way. If fighter goes to the trainer and tells him what to do, he’s not the trainer. The trainer needs to tell the fighter what should be done.”

Klimas added, “Arbor is a real trainer. He’s not a showman going for the camera and getting into the press talking about it. He’s just helping Sergey to get him into better shape and to get him ready for boxing. And he reminds Sergey of his old trainer from the beginning in Russia, Roshchenko. Especially because Sergey wants to hear Russian language spoken in his corner. That is important to him.”

Kovalev vs. Shabranskyy is a 12-round fight for the vacant WBO Light Heavyweight World Title promoted by Main Events and Krusher Promotions in association with Golden Boy Promotions. Barrera vs. Valera is a 10-round light heavyweight fight promoted by Main Events in Association with Shuan Boxing Promotions. Sosa vs. Castellanos is a 10-round super featherweight fight promoted by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Peltz Boxing. The event will take place at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

FOLLOW US:

#KovalevShabranskyy
kovalboxer.com
Twitter: @krusherkovalev
Facebook: facebook.com/shopkrusher
Instagram: @SergeyKrusherKovalev
Twitter: @Shabranskyy
Instagram: @Shabranskyy
www.mainevents.com
Twitter: @main_events
Facebook: facebook.com/MainEventsBoxing
Instagram: @Main_Events
www.goldenboypromotions.com
Twitter: @GoldenBoyBoxing
Facebook: facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing
www.theateratmsg.com
Facebook: facebook.com/TheGarden
Twitter: @TheGarden
Instagram: @TheGarden
www.hbo.com/boxing
Twitter: @HBOBoxing
Facebook: facebook.com/HBOBoxing

By Norm Frauenheim-

Andre Ward’s surprising retirement, Roman Gonzalez’ sad defeat and the scorecard controversy still brewing over the Gennady Golovkin-Canelo Alvarez draw is re-energizing the pound-for-pound debate and generating renewed optimism about a resilient business known for comebacks.

It’s always best to be cautious about whether another comeback is on the horizon. Adelaide Byrd’s crazy card favoring Canelo by a bewildering eight-point margin on Sept. 16 serves as a clear-and-present warning. It reminds me of an old line from Hall of Fame writer Michael Katz. To wit: Only boxing is killing boxing.

Nevertheless, some intriguing elements are beginning to fall into place for some real momentum going into 2018. Even Adelaide’s Byrd-brain card might prove to be a good thing. It all but ensured that there would be a rematch in what looks to be a headline-grabbing rivalry until at least next May and perhaps beyond. There are plenty of reasons to question — even suspect — Byrd’s scoring. But only a rematch can provide an answer. That’s good for business.

So, too, is the slow, yet still painful move away from the pay-per-view business model. The numbers just can’t be believed any more. The buy rate has been corrupted.

The only relevant number in a Guccifer 2.0 era full of Russian hackers, bots, Trump tweets and pirates is the rip-off rate. The move toward bouts on ESPN and Showtime without the PPV tag is already underway. Early indications are that it is working. It has to.

The idea is to introduce young fighters, fighters from Eastern Europe and Central Asia to an emerging audience of young fans armed with cutting-edge tech and seeking new ways to watch. They’re seeking new fighters, too. Ward was good, even great in an old-school kind of way. At 32-0, he has a Hall of Fame resume.

It also fair to wonder whether he won’t be at least tempted to try his luck at heavyweight, a la Roy Jones Jr. But the guess here is that Ward knows he’s just not big enough to contend with Anthony Joshua, 6-foot-6 and 27, or Deontay Wilder, 6-7 and 31. Ward formally notified the acronyms this week that he was vacating his light-heavyweight titles. Now 33, he’ll look around at the younger generation in a year or two and probably decide to stay retired.

Ward’s retirement creates a vacancy – maybe even a breath of fresh air – at the top of the pound-for-pound debate. He was a terrific boxer, subtle and smart. Yet, he was never a big draw, in part because of inactivity brought on by promotional trouble. He also had something of an artistic temperament, meaning that he approached each bout more as a craftsman than a salesman.

He was fun to watch, but you had to know what you were watching. Same with Roman Gonzalez, a master craftsman who is the lightest fighter to ever occupy the pound-for-pound’s top spot. Gonzalez’ fight to draw a big crowd was complicated by the simple fact that he’s a little guy, a flyweight whose ascent up the scale was stopped by successive losses to junior-bantamweight Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.

There’s a reason for weight classes and that was evident in the Gonzalez defeats. Evident, too, was a fighter who seemed to have lost his way, if not his will, in the wake of trainer Arnulfo Obando’s death.

Time, tragedy, simple physics and circumstance have eliminated them from the top of the argument. In their place, there is a youth movement, at least there is in this pound-for-pound edition.

At No. 1: Terence Crawford. He’s slick, quick, instinctive and appears to have a mean streak. He dominated junior welterweight and the guess here is that he will do the same at welter. There are questions about whether he can draw in locales far from his fans in Omaha. On PPV, no. On ESPN, yeah. Without PPV limits, more fans will get a chance to see just how good he is and how much better he’ll soon be.

No. 2: Mikey Garcia. He’s smart and as efficient as any fighter in a long while. I’m not sure the lightweight champion can beat Crawford at a heavier weight (147 pounds) or junor-lightweight Vasily Lomachenko (more on him later) at his own weight, 135. But it looks as if the economical Garcia does what he has to, which might mean we haven’t seen most of what he can do.

No. 3: Lomachenko. He’s part wizard and part Ali. At least, that’s how promoter Bob Arum and others have portrayed him. At 130 pounds, I’m not sure anyone can beat him, but he faces an intriguing Dec. 9 challenge from Guillermo Rigondeaux, anther master craftsman, yet dismissed as boring. Rigondeaux is jumping up in weight, from 122 pounds, to face Lomachenko in an unprecedented bout between double Olympic gold medalists. Can the Cuban beat the Ukrainian? Maybe not, but he has the skillset to challenge him, or at least show somebody else how to beat him.

No. 4: Golovkin and Canelo in a tie. Or was that a draw? If Canelo learns from the debatable draw the way he learned from a loss to Floyd Mayweather, he should win against GGG, who is 35 and will be 36 at opening bell of the projected May rematch.

No. 5: Joshua. Maybe, Joshua belongs in the second five for now. But he is the possible face of the very future that is apparent in autumn of the year before boxing’s potential comeback. He is drawing huge crowds in the UK. Boxing has always been defined by the heavyweights. No real comeback is complete without one and Joshua might be the one.

When Andre Ward recently retired it opened up the WBA, WBO and IBF light heavyweight titles and when Badou Jack vacated his WBA “regular” title the division became even more wide open.

Red hot contender Sullivan Barrera was very confident that he would get a shot at one of the vacant belts. So naturally his jaw dropped when he heard that Dmitry Bivol would face Trent Broadhurst for the vacant WBA title on November 4th.

“I should be fighting Bivol. He is ranked number 1 and I am number 2. What is the point of the rankings if they won’t follow their rules?” Said an incredulous Barrera.

Shortly after winning the title against Nathan Cleverly in August, the WBA ordered a purse bid for Jack to face Bivol. When Jack vacated the title the sanctioning body mysteriously bypassed Barrra and several other more deserving fighters.

What makes this decision even more head scratching is that the unknown Broadhurst is only ranked #11 by the WBA and that Bivol is co-promoted by Barrera’s promoter Main Events which should have made it easier to get a deal done to match Bivol and Barrera.

“I think I’ve paid my dues. My promoter should be getting me that fight. While other fighters are avoiding Bivol, I welcome the challenge. I was ready to fight Badou Jack and I would beat Bivol too!”

Barrera has already beaten Vychaslev Shabransky, Paul Parker and Joe Smith and wants to cap off 2017 with a big fight.

“Since I was child all I’ve dreamed about in this sport is becoming world champion and this type of politics in the sport just hurts the fighters who are putting in the work. It’s just blah blah blah,” said a frustrated Barrera.

By Bart Barry-

Thursday afternoon Andre Ward announced the conclusion of his excellent career. The retirement feels legitimate because Ward feels legitimate, ungiven to publicity stunts or publicity in general, and the reason he cited – an unwillingness to keep suffering – is a hard one to walk back later: “With my body now two years older, my desire to fight has returned in 2019.”

Ward joins Floyd Mayweather, whose third retirement, one hopes, is his final retirement, Juan Manuel Marquez, Wladimir Klitschko and Timothy Bradley, on a worldclass list of five prizefighters who retired this year.

What follows is a meandering, unstructured series of thoughts and runon sentences about the careers of these men as seen by one aficionado deeply interested in our beloved sport during their best years. This is no final word; even if such a thing existed this wouldn’t be a finalword piece because its author hasn’t the shoulders or stomach to bear the burden of a final assessment to the end of days.

First a clarifying hypothetical question (that I doubt I’ll answer myself as, the more I’ve considered it, the less certain I am, after beginning uncertainly): Pretending all five men didn’t just retire this year but also made their career’s final matches in 2017, only three would be eligible for Hall of Fame induction in 2022 – and so, which two shouldn’t get in? This question is wigglier than it looks. As a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, which I am (just checked; I honestly didn’t remember if I’d remembered to pay this year’s dues), I am allowed to vote for all five guys – which precludes a hypothetical crisis of conscience. Too, Marquez announced his retirement this year but stopped fighting three years ago and will be on the ballot in 2019, and Bradley will be on the ballot, or should be, in 2021. The question, then, seeks a statistical prediction more than an aesthetic judgement: Not “who would you leave off your list?” so much as “who would mathematics exclude?”

Probably Ward and Bradley. Mayweather was one of the world’s two best fighters for most of an era. Klitschko was the heavyweight champion of the world for a goodish while. And Marquez has nearly as many career prizefights as Ward and Bradley combined. There’s an argument to be made Bradley doesn’t belong in this particular conversation, and fairplay to that, but as this is my meandering, unstructured series of thoughts, and as I have a general weakness for volume punchers and a specific weakness for a prizefighter honest and decent as Bradley, he’s in.

Fine, but after what Ward just did in his rematch with Kovalev, how dare you, sir?

Hold on there. It’s not me – I’d love to leave Klitschko off the list, truly I would – but you can’t fight as many times for a world heavyweight championship as Klitschko did and expect a majority of voters to overlook that because, and this is especially important when we judge recent made-by-television careers in lower weightclasses, the heavyweight champion is the one person in our sport who cannot scale weightclasses in search of better opposition. You can’t hold the heavyweight champion’s era against him if he fought all comers, and for the most part Klitschko did.

That’s not fair? No kidding. Neither is Klitschko’s being 11 inches and 100 pounds bigger than Marquez (before Juan Manuel dedicated himself to the sort of fitness regimen Wlad and brother Vitali followed since the amateurs).

This may be the only time pound-for-pound musings can be amusing: What sort of horror movie would a prime Marquez make with a 130-pound Klitschko?

Good one. Let’s play a touch more. Mayweather did not fight Marquez on terms even resembling even eight years ago but showed enough in their 36 minutes together to imagine 130-pound Mayweather beats the Marquez who snuffs shrunken Klitschko, at least seven times of 10. Prime Bradley sneaked past 40-year-old Marquez in 2013, but 130-pound Bradley probably wouldn’t win two rounds against 30-year-old Marquez. That leaves 130-pound Ward against 130-pound Marquez, and frankly, what a lovely fight!

I’ve chosen Marquez as the axle round which our circle twirls because Marquez is my favorite fighter who retired in 2017. He is also the man I’d least like to encounter in a dark alley. Again, while plenty of fighters I’ve interviewed have expressed a willingness to die in combat Marquez is the only one who’s given me a sense he’s willing to kill in the ring – and that’s neither hyperbole nor metaphor.

Back into the dark alley a bit. Second on that list would be Ward; I saw him sitting in an Oakland hotel lobby the night before he cuberooted Chad Dawson (Ward’s defining fight, along with his manhandling of Mikkel Kessler, till the Kovalev rematch), and dude’s eyes were dead as a mako shark’s. Mayweather’s third on the darkalley test because he’s a bully at heart, and things’d get intentional and sadistic right quick with a man whose temperament and skills could leave a disgusting mess. One doesn’t get the sense either Klitschko or Bradley has been in a dark alley or’d have much interest in fighting there; Bradley’d hit you a couple times then tell you to chill out, and Klitschko’d keep jabbing and bounding backwards till he ran out of alley or the cops showed up.

What Hall of Fame induction actually means to boxers is anyone’s guess; I’ve heard lots of young gymrats want to be champions but never heard one want to be a Hall of Famer – halls of fame have a definite meaning in teamsports they lack in sports like boxing or swimming or golf, whose hallowed edifices serve more as museums.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

“Andre Ward ends his boxing career as he only knew how to live it — as a champion at the top,” says Peter Nelson, Executive Vice President, HBO Sports. “To watch Ward was to marvel at constant mastery of craft in the ring, to say nothing of his being the consummate role model outside it. The Hall of Fame will be lucky to have him.

“We wish Andre and his family much success and happiness as he explores new opportunities, including with our own HBO family as one of the expert analysts on our broadcast team.

“It was a privilege for HBO to serve as the television platform for many of his landmark achievements in the sport he loves.”

Top rated light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera has been on a roll since losing a decision to pound-for-pound king Andre Ward in the spring of 2015.

Since his only professional loss, Barrera has rebounded in a major way, stopping the then unbeaten Slava Shabranskyy, Paul “Pay-Per-View” Parker, and in his most recent performance he dominated the red hot Joe Smith Jr. on HBO.

Barrera is now in a position where only the big fights make sense and he wants to finish out the year with a title shot or eliminator.

“I want the Jack-Cleverly winner for the WBA title or Kovalev next. Kovalev is a big name and I would beat him so bad he would retire. If I can’t fight them I want someone like Marcus Browne in an eliminator,” said Barrera.

“With the way I have fought I think I deserve the big fights. Now the question is which fighter will step up and actually fight me.”

The 35 year old Barrera wants to strike while the iron is fight and with his #3 WBC, #2 WBA and #5 WBO rankings, it shouldn’t be hard for him to get a fight versus any fighter looking to make a move in the light heavyweight division.

Undefeated two-division world champion and 2004 Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward will join ESPN’s coverage of two of the year’s biggest boxing events: the August 19th Top Rank Boxing on ESPN Terence “Bud” Crawford vs Julius Indongo and the August 26th pay-per-view Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor..
Ward, the current Ring Magazine number one Pound-For-Pound fighter and current Unified Light Heavyweight Champion of the World, will join ESPN’s Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas as a guest analyst for the August 19th Top Rank Boxing on ESPN “Unification” fight. For the first time ever, the results of a match will recognize an undisputed king of the 140-pound division of the four-belt era. The fight will air live on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, and stream live on the ESPN App on Saturday, Aug. 19 at 10 p.m. ET, from the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska.
On August 26th, Ward will also appear on numerous ESPN studio shows, including First Take, SportsCenter and other programs, during its extensive multiplatform news and information coverage leading up to the 12-round Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor pay-per-view event at 9 p.m. ET.
“It’s great to be back behind the mic and working for ESPN alongside Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas, two guys that I respect and who provide great commentary to the sport of boxing,” Ward said. “I love stepping in to the broadcast booth because I have the best seat in the house, I’m not taking any punches, and I get to talk about the sport I know and love. Crawford-Indongo and Mayweather-McGregor are two of the biggest fights in the sport right now and I’m looking forward to providing my own unique insight and being an asset to ESPN’s boxing coverage.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, the June 17 Andre Ward – Sergey Kovalev bout registered approximately 130,000 Pay Per View buys.

Ward’s eighth-round knockout of Kovalev in their rematch on June 17 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas generated a live gate of $2,187,340, according to figures released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Wednesday, far less than the first fight generated seven months earlier.

The revenue from last month’s bout came from the sale of 6,366 tickets, even though Roc Nation Sports announced a crowd of 10,592 on fight night. There were 2,113 complimentary tickets given out from a total of 10,748 available, according to the commission.

HBO Sports presents WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: ANDRE WARD VS. SERGEY KOVALEV 2, the exclusive replay of their highly anticipated light heavyweight title showdown, SATURDAY, JUNE 24 at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT). The HBO Sports team, which was ringside at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas for the live HBO Pay-Per-View presentation June 17, calls all the action, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.

The fight will also be available on HBO NOW, HBO GO, HBO On Demand and affiliate portals.

Last November, in the most anticipated fight of 2016, Kovalev and Ward squared off under the bright lights of Las Vegas. The 12-round battle ended with Ward edging out a unanimous decision victory by the thinnest of margins.

Seven months later, on June 17, the rematch took place in the same city, with an even higher level of intensity. Elevating his standing among the top pound-for-pound fighters, the undefeated Ward scored an eighth-round TKO triumph that has the boxing community buzzing.

® WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is a registered service mark of Home Box Office, Inc.

By Jimmy Tobin-
Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev got the opportunity he wanted Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Seething from what he believed to be a bogus decision loss to Andre “Son of God” Ward in November, enraged by Ward’s conduct in a dead promotion leading up to their rematch, Kovalev swore to deliver a display of ultra-violence that would permanently remove Ward from the sport. In the eighth round, without a whiff of protest, Kovalev let referee Tony Weeks save him from that opportunity.

At least that is one way of interpreting the ending of a rematch that will be remembered for outdoing its predecessor in controversy. The outrage that met Ward’s disputed win in the first fight was mitigated by the likelihood of a rematch, one that Ward, after stringing Kovalev, HBO, and aficionados along as is his wont, agreed to.

Controversy, however, in the form of blows borderline and low and a stoppage either premature or appropriate will forever attend any mention of this fight. There are grounds for controversy here, objections rooted in something less trivial than a dislike of Ward. And for that reason, if you were looking for more than a boxing match waged at the highest level (not an unfair request given the price tag), complete satisfaction was not to be found in the ring Saturday. Ward indeed worked maliciously at the margins of sportsmanship—as everyone except Kovalev seemed to anticipate—and should you look for fouls in that work you will certainly find them. So too will you find a sympathetic ear if you believe the stoppage was premature. Many will argue that even if Weeks missed the low blow that punctuated Kovalev’s undoing, he should have offered a ten-count to a fighter neither protecting himself nor fighting back.

Perhaps Kovalev deserved a chance to try and recover; Ward, a chance to remove any controversy from the stoppage. Instead, Ward is left with a second disputed win over a fighter so many hoped would forcibly remove him from the sport, and that outcome, in the hands of those who do not respect let alone see greatness in the Oakland fighter, will only stoke the flames of animosity toward him.

But if what you wanted was the answer to the question of who is the better fighter, did Saturday not bring it? And in a manner that provides less room for debate than the outcome of either of their fights?

That is why there will be no trilogy: not because Ward should see no reason to provide it (true), not because Kovalev does not deserve it (true for now), but because the superior fighter has been established at the expense of yet another pay-per-view bomb. Ward is a fighter in ways Kovalev for all his formidable technique and power is not, and that has become increasingly clear since a second round knockdown in their first fight brought Ward as close as he has ever come to professional defeat.

It was Ward operating as a fighter that saw him fix his attack on, above, and below, Kovalev’s beltline. Had Kovalev, responded in a manner befitting the “WAR” cap he sported days earlier, which is to say, responded in kind, Ward would have tempered his assault. Weeks may have shown greater interest in policing such tactics, too. Instead, Kovalev turned imploringly to the referee, away from the action, bringing to mind lyrics from Alexisonfire’s “Get Fighted”: “Cuz all the fashion (in the world can’t save you now).” That behavior told Ward there were places Kovalev would not go, and that trapped in that uncomfortable territory he would break.

There is an education to be had when you share the ring with a dirty fighter, one that Kovalev has not acquired. This is not to defend such fighters (though they are certainly not without their charm). Still, it is naive to operate on the assumption that a man fighting for his livelihood will respect the rules if he knows how to skirt them. Naive too to expect referees, each with his own interpretation of how a fight should unfold and where his grounds for involvement lie, to enforce those rules ever to your favor. And yes, a feeble apology for Kovalev the sportsman can be offered here, but think what praise would have been heaped on him had he intentionally strayed his best cross to the belly six inches low and set clear for all the terms of engagement.

It was difficult to watch Kovalev, a fighter both vilified and adored for his relish in cruelty, look to the referee for help and not recall the concern he raised to trainer John David Jackson early in his career: that he might not hit hard enough to find success as a professional. There is a fragility there; a need for reassurance that should things go poorly Kovalev would have with him the means to a quick escape. This is something Ward, who has never been a puncher but does not doubt himself, would never ask for. Granted, Kovalev’s fragility only became an issue against a great fighter, which is where such weaknesses should be brought to bear, where they are most forgivable too. But for all Kovalev’s menace, Ward is the nastier of the two, and Kovalev conceded as much at about the time of his precipitous wilting from the fight.

Perhaps the fight came down simply to that, what with so little separating Ward and Kovalev technically: not fouls, not liberal officiating, but a question of poise and bearing in a bloodsport. Those seem like fine determinants of superiority in an evenly match prizefight. They would determine the outcome were Ward and Kovalev to meet again. And they would yield a similar result.