Andre Ward’s professional boxing career unfolded unlike any other this century. As the last American man to win an Olympic gold medal (Athens 2004), he boxed professionally from ‘04 until ’17. He won the Super Six tournament that pitted the world’s best super middleweights against each other (’09-’11) in a format that has not since been replicated. He didn’t fight at all for almost two years (Nov. ’13 to June ’15), but the break—to wrest back control of his career—was part of what distinguished him. He retired undefeated, on top but only 33 years old, at an age when most pugilists are still at or near the end of their respective primes.
All that forms a career, again, unlike any other. Ward was different for several reasons. Different for the gold medal, the wait to regain what he desired, his participation in the riskiest tournament staged in boxing in recent memory, his Creed cameo while in self-imposed exile, his last loss (age 12, meaning he’s gone nearly three decades without dropping a bout) and his departure—on his terms, perhaps early, for sure with less damage than if he continued fighting—from the sport. All that, plus something else: Ward never told his story, not in full, not until … now.
Showtime will release the documentary that fills in so many gaps, S.O.G.: The Book of Ward, on June 2. (Full disclosure: I do some side work for the network, but had nothing to do with the film.) My interest stemmed instead from a decade-long fascination with Ward and his career. What did he really endure/survive growing up in Oakland? There were always whispers. Why did he fight all the best challengers in his divisions? Nobody does that anymore. Did he agree with my contention that, of all the contenders for best boxer of the most recent eras, he held a better claim than Floyd Mayweather Jr.? I’d put Ward’s career résumé ahead of Mayweather but below Manny Pacquaio and not by much.
