Super Six World Boxing Classic Semifinalists and WBA 168-pound champion Andre Ward hosted a media day and workout with his trainer Virgil Hunter and promoter Dan Goossen on Thursday in Ward’s hometown of Oakland as he gets ready for his Semifinals showdown against Arthur Abraham on Saturday, May 14 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, CA live on Showtime.
Ward will defend his WBA Super Middleweight title against former world champion Arthur Abraham. The winner advances to the tournament Finals against the winner of the Carl Froch-Glen Johnson Semifinals showdown.
In a non-televised undercard bout, heavyweight world contender and popular Southern California slugger Chris Arreola will try to stay on track for another opportunity of a world championship when he takes on Nagy Aguilera.
What Ward and Goossen had to say on Thursday:
In reference to Sauerland’s statement that the Ward-Abraham fight is in jeopardy:
WARD: “It’s news to me yesterday. That’s why I have my promoter with me today and I am sure that it is all going to get worked out. There will be a fight. There’s definitely going to be a fight. No fight, nobody makes any money. So I think they’ll get it worked out.”
On his belief that the original plan of neutral officials and judges will take place:
WARD: “Absolutely. “Dan has said it many times and I have said many times. I know people think that I have some dealing behind the scenes, setting everything up where it’s just right for Andre Ward but I have nothing to say about that, I have no say in that. That is why I have a promoter. That’s the promoter’s job to negotiate and deal and do whatever they are going to do. There should be fair judges, they’ll get it worked out.”
DAN GOOSSEN:
“If there were no California Officials Andre wouldn’t say anything. All we want is to get out there and fight. Even fighting at home, it’s never been a situation where Andre has said we have to fight at home. After the Kessler fight Green wanted to fight out here because he made a lot of money. Bika was the same situation, he made a lot of money fighting out here. These other guys didn’t have any homes so it wasn’t to protect Andre Ward and keep him at close quarters; it was just the way the situation evolved.
“In other words, we have done everything that we are supposed to do and lived up to and that is what we will continue to do. Now it’s just up to Sauerland and the Commission to work it out and that’s final.”
On Andre’s apparent willingness to fight globally judging from his Olympic days and his past fight record:
WARD: “People have to talk about something on the website and blogs. Me fighting at home is something that people continue to talk about , it’s not something I really pay a lot of attention to because I know how I got to this point and it certainly wasn’t fighting in Oakland. I have only had 4 fights out in Oakland and let’s not even talk about my amateur career. I am well schooled with fighting on the road, but again I think it was an awesome thing to be able to fight at home and we are looking to come back home and even make it bigger than it has been.”
On not changing his game plan and the expectations for him to succeed:
WARD: “Absolutely. I have to stay like that because there is a lot of talk about what Arthur has left. Either they say his back is against the wall and he’s hungry so look out or they say this is going to be just a fight where that Ward is going to walk through him. I can’t believe that, I can’t believe either way. I have to prepare for each fight the same way, very methodically, mentally. I am expecting the best out of Abraham come May 14.”
On what Arthur Abraham will look like on May 14 and the problems he represents:
WARD: “The problems he represents remains to be seen, but his strengths are he believes in his punching power. They call him a puncher, they say that he hits hard and that he is physically very strong, but I believe that my physical strength is right up there with the best ever and I think he will see and notice that I hit a lot harder than what people perceive me to be. With that being said, it’s going to be the same Arthur Abraham, in terms of stylistically – he’s going to cover up and maybe open up a little bit earlier, but he is going to look for that one big shot, that’s what he does.”
On whether Arthur Abraham is similar to any other opponent that Ward has faced:
WARD: “Not really, but in terms of just being a big puncher and believing in his power, I can liken him to Edison Miranda. Not defensively, but in terms of looking for that one big shot all night long. Miranda is probably the main guy that I can compare him to.”
On how Ward plans to approach Abraham knowing that he is waiting for an opening:
WARD: “We do what we gotta do. We don’t get caught up in his game. I know that if he lands a shot on me, I believe that I can take it.
On the probability of Ward not fighting the same way he fought his fights against Bika and Green:
WARD: “I don’t know. I think that you are going to see a little bit of everything. I have said that the last two fights because that is just my style. My style is adapting and doing what the other opponent doesn’t believe that I am going to do. We don’t have a fear factor in our camp where we’re going to be running away from Arthur Abraham, that’s not the case. He’s a 168 pound man and so am I. He’s a former world champion and I am the current world champion. He wants to get a world title again and I want to defend my title. I am going to conduct myself accordingly. So, in other worlds, I am going to be myself and do what I gotta do.”
Upon being asked if he is just as hungry to keep his championship status:
WARD: “I believe so. It’s just kind of the way I am wired. I love to win and I know that you just can’t love to win; you have to do what it takes in preparation to win. Unless I have done all that I can do, leaving my family, sacrificing, putting in the physical work and doing the mental work exercises – just everything that it takes to get ready for a championship fight. When we get out there we do what we do and we have fun and we let the chips fall where they fall.”
On his champion status and putting in the work to stay a champion:
WARD: “We don’t really have a championship training camp, I am not the center of attention here. My coach doesn’t pat me on the back everyday that I come in and tell me how great I am. You would think that I was still a young guy coming up in terms of preparation. Mentally and physically, if you listen to some of the things we talk about while doing the mitts and the drill you would think, ‘man, give this guy a little credit.’ But my coach is always asking for more and pushing me because he knows and he wants me to be a great fighter someday and in order to do that I can’t settle for just being good. This is always a camp where we are pushing, reaching and trying to do better.”
On the expectation of Arthur Abraham coming out blazing:
“The only problem with that is that it’s a 12 round fight. If he tries that we have to have an answer, if he lays back and waits we have to have an answer, so when you have seven or eight weeks to sit down and prepare you’re supposed to go over every possibly scenario. But then it comes to a point where it’s not about what he’s going to do, it’s about what we’re going to do. That’s when the mind set shifts and two-and-a-half weeks before the fight is where I am at right now. It’s not about what Arthur is going to do or how many fans will be there in the arena. I am going to be mentally locked in. I wont hear anything that night. That’s all I am focused on.”
When asked if he is winding down since it is two weeks before the fight:
WARD:“Not quite yet, we’re still working hard. We have to be careful not to just leave it on the road and want to push harder when you run or push harder in the gym. You just have to really be sensitive and that’s why it’s awesome to have a coach that not only knows boxing but knows you, and Virg knows me extremely well. You know, there are days I get up mad and I am ready to push and he says we’re not doing that this morning, just meet me at the gym at this time. And those are the types of things that he brings to the camp and really allows me to peak at the right time.”
On being able to adjust during a fight:
WARD: “That’s something that’s really evolving in my game is adjusting on the fly. We like game plans, but I am not really a game plan type of guy. We’ll have a general game plan but at the same time things happen so fast in a fight and you have to make split-second decisions and Virg allows me to make those decisions. I can give you an example: the Allen Green fight. We weren’t going to fight that type of fight that soon, it just happened. That was a fight that was going to happen on the other side of six but it happened starting in the second round. I thought, ‘Man, he’s letting me do this to him inside.’ So I stayed there and Virg adjusted and said, ‘If you are going to be there, this is what I need you to do.’ So, yeah that is something that is evolving as well is the ability to adjust.”
