By Keith Idec
Andre Ward couldn’t help but laugh when he was told Chris Eubank Sr. said his son would “wreck” Ward.
The undefeated Ward can appreciate Eubank’s role in trying to generate attention for his son’s fight against Australia’s Renold Quinlan on Saturday in London. Ward cautioned the legendary Eubank and his son, though, that they’ll eventually have to back up all their tough talk in a fight against a top opponent.
“I just smiled and laughed,” Ward told iFL TV during a recent interview. “Look, I get it. You know, it’s the week of the fight. They’re trying to sell some pay-per-views. They heard I was coming into town. It’s no coincidence. I mean, these guys have never said my name – ever – until this week. So I get it. I understand it. But I would tell Chris Eubank Sr. and I would tell Chris Eubank Jr., you have to crawl before you run. Not before you walk, but before you run.”
The IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion came to London to work as an analyst for the pay-per-view show Saturday that’ll feature Quinlan (11-1, 7 KOs), the IBO super middleweight champion, and Eubank Jr. (23-1, 18 KOs) in the 12-round main event. Ward’s advice to the 27-year-old Eubank is to continue concentrating on the task at hand, so that he can ensure a higher-profile fight against an opponent like Ward (31-0, 15 KOs) or Gennady Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs).
“He’s just gotta stay focused, man,” Ward said. “I get it. I don’t take that stuff [personal]. When I was younger, I used to get [mad]. I used to take it personal and wanna respond. I get it. They wanna sell some tickets, they’re getting hype around the fight, they wanna get people excited, so he’s calling out all the big names.
“Only problem with that is, whether it’s me or someone else down the road, at some point you gotta back that up. So whatever you put out there, the people are gonna hold you accountable. So that’s the only down side to saying things like that, is they’re gonna want a return on that promise and say, ‘Well, you said this, so now you got the opportunity. Where you at?’ So he’s just gotta remember that. But if that’s how they wanna go about it, man, it’s all good. I think the fans get into it, the media gets into it, it drums it up a little bit. It’s good.”
The 32-year-old Ward doesn’t think Eubank is only good at attracting attention and promoting his fights, though. The 2004 Olympic gold medalist has been impressed with how Eubank, whose lone loss was a split-decision defeat to WBO middleweight champ Billy Joe Saunders two years ago, has developed from prospect into contender.
“I’ve seen enough,” Ward said. “He’s a good, young fighter. He has a lot of spunk. He believes in his ability, which you should. But he’s still raw, he’s still developing. In my opinion, I think he’s right on track in terms of where he needs to be.
“Now when does he take that next step to fight a Golovkin, or somebody like that? I don’t know. I know that they were negotiating, the fight fell through for one reason or another. But he’s knocking at the door to a big, big fight, to really show the world what he’s all about. And you can’t show the world what you’re about until you get into one of those fights.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
