By Thomas Gerbasi

Contrary to popular belief, WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward was not born as a 25-year old with the type of maturity that dwarves that of people 20 years his senior. Like all of us, he was a teenager once, subject to all the ups and downs that come during that period.

He’s well aware that it’s a time when anyone - regardless of race, sex, creed, or economic standing - can make the wrong turn down a wrong path, setting themselves on a downward spiral that could end up in jail or the grave. On Wednesday, Ward spoke to teenagers who made that wrong turn at the Santa Clara County Juvenile Detention Center and the William F. James Ranch in California’s Bay Area.

“I know what it’s like to be 15 and 16 years old and to not know whether you’re coming or going,” Ward told BoxingScene. “Your body’s going through changes, you’re dealing with all kinds of different things, and at times you make wrong choices. So if I can use everything that I’ve accomplished to reach someone, that’s what it’s all about.”

But this was more than just one of those celebrity appearances where a champion shows off his shiny title belt and says ‘with hard work, you can be like me.’ That all starts with Ward, who isn’t one for trivialities or publicity stunts. The Oakland product shatters all preconceptions of how a successful professional athlete acts these days, and in many ways, he makes you think of an era when athletes like Muhammad Ali, Bill Russell, Jim Brown, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were not only socially aware, but willing to talk about their views and take a stand for them. Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods he is not, and as far as he’s concerned, this is just the beginning for him.

“This is something I really want to expand and start doing more of,” he said. “I’ve had some outreach and done some cause-related things for the community, but nothing like I really want to. This is just the first step, and I want to use the platform that I have to reach at-risk teens and youth and people who basically feel like they don’t have a chance at life.”

Ward, like many of the teenagers he spoke to this week, was raised by a single parent, but unlike most of them, Frank Ward didn’t let Andre or his brother Jonathan stray. A firm hand and the boxing gym made sure of that. That doesn’t mean it was all “Leave it to Beaver” in the Ward household.

“I lived a very strict lifestyle,” said Ward, who pays tribute to his father (who passed away in 2002) by having his name tattooed on his arms. “My father raised me and my brother by himself. He was a single father and it’s tough. He did the best job that he could and he did a great job. He gave me a great foundation in many areas, and that’s why I’m the man that I am today, but he wasn’t perfect. If he could have done it all over again, and we talked about this, he wouldn’t been as hard and probably would have let my brother and I live a little more.”

By the time Ward was in the midst of high school, he looked to break the cycle of school, homework, and boxing, and it was then that – like most - he started to rebel.

“I really didn’t have a life,” he said. “My life was going to school, coming back, doing my homework, and off to the gym. There was really no life outside of the sport of boxing, so I got to that certain point where I figured ‘hey, I’m getting older now, I want to do some things. I want to see what it feels like to stay out late and go here or do that. Those are the things that I did, and I did have a season, probably three or four years, where I got to see what the world was all about and it’s nothing to play with, I’ll tell you that.”

Looking back now, Ward knows why his dad did what he did, and while he advocates letting the reins go a bit on teenagers, he believes that teaching children how to do the right thing is even more beneficial in the long run.

“You have to let kids live and enjoy themselves – not get in trouble, but you have to let them live a little bit,” he said. “Because he did give me a strong foundation, even when I did go astray, I knew where to come back to.”

Ward, a father of three, is already preparing himself for when his kids hit their teens.

“They’re gonna run around, but the thing is, how long are you gonna let the leash out,” he asks. “I’m not gonna condone anything that’s not right, but at the same time, they’re gonna have to get out in the real world to a degree and they’re gonna be around people who are making bad choices and they’re gonna have to learn to make the right choice in the midst of that. I can’t shelter them. They’re gonna be in high school and they’re gonna go places and do things and they’re gonna see people doing wrong. The question is, will they follow? So we’re just trying to teach them right from wrong.”

It’s that type of common sense, real advice that will make someone sit up and take notice. As I said, Ward is not one to sugar coat things; he will tell you the way he sees it, and that no nonsense approach was a big hit during his presentations (done in conjunction with the charity Knock Out Dog Fighting) on Wednesday.

“It was unbelievable,” he said. “It far exceeded what I thought it was gonna be. Sometimes, not just young men and women who are in juvenile hall, but young men and women in that age group, it’s hard for them to focus for any kind of event, especially because they’re locked up and have other things on their minds. I thought I’d get a warm reception, but it was awesome, and once I had finished, as the young men walked out, they just told me that they were inspired. And for those kids to say that to me, it just inspired me to keep doing what I’m doing.”

The interaction also served to keep Ward grounded. He knows that one bad decision years ago could have altered his world irrevocably, and though his family and faith kept him on the right path, it never hurts to be thankful for having navigated that minefield unscathed.

“It was just a reminder not to get too big for your britches,” said Ward. “You’ve been there before, in that confusing time when you’re trying to figure out who you are as an individual and what you want to do in life, and you’re making mistakes along the way. It brought me back and reminded me that God has blessed me with a tremendous platform and it’s not just about me winning titles and making money. It’s about affecting people around me and affecting change wherever I go.”

This April, the 2004 United States Olympic Gold Medalist returns to the ring to defend the title he won from Mikkel Kessler last November for the first time. His scheduled opponent is former middleweight champion Jermain Taylor, whose scary back-to-back knockout losses to Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham forced his promoter, Lou DiBella, to resign from his post, and have had boxing insiders around the globe calling for the fighter to follow suit. That leaves Ward in limbo, not the ideal spot for him to be in, but as is his custom, he’s taking everything with a cool head.

“It’s a little disappointing,” said Ward of the current situation. “It’s not anything that’s gonna take me off of my focus or anything like that. But you would like to know, especially in a tournament setting, what the next move is gonna be. It really doesn’t matter to me who it is – my focus is at an all-time high, and I feel like the world saw maybe 60-65% of what I’m truly gonna become in this sport, so I’m excited to perform again and get better. It doesn’t matter who it’s gonna be, but I’m anxious to see who the next opponent will turn out to be.”

Whoever does show up in the ring on April 17th will be facing a young man in Ward who is on top of his game, mentally and physically, one who silenced a legion of critics with his one-sided drubbing of Kessler, and one who may become that rarest of boxers – one who can transcend the game and make as big a difference outside the ring as he does inside of it. Now isn’t that a better headline for a sport in need of some good news to kick off 2010?

“I understand the cameras and that people are gonna report on the good things you do, but at the end of the day, I would be okay if no one was there to report on it because it’s truly something that I really want to do,” said Ward of his outside of the ring activities. “Again, I look back at my life and I’m thankful to God and it really humbles me because I really shouldn’t be doing what I’m doing. I’m blessed to be the position that I’m in, and I feel that it’s my duty to stand up and to make a difference. I almost feel greedy or covetous if I was just all about the money or my fame. If I just left it there, I wouldn’t feel like I was completing the job. Along the way, I’m gonna meet a lot of people, people in prominent positions, and even young men in juvenile hall, and I feel like I can say something, so something, or live in such a way that could possibly impact them, and that excites me. The money is part of it, winning titles is part of it, but at the same time, who have you touched along the way? When you hang up those gloves, stop shooting that basketball, running that football, or whatever it is that you do, who have you touched, who have you impacted? That’s my motivation.”