Andre Ward: Kovalev is NOT on My Mind Until August 7th

AKLAND, CA – On Tuesday, August 2, Two-Time World Champion and top-rated pound-for-pound fighter Andre Ward (29-0, 15 KOs) and power-punching Colombian Alexander Brand (25-1, 19 KOs) participated in a media workout at King’s Gym in Oakland, California in advance of their August 6 fight at Oracle Arena in Oakland.

Ward and Brand will meet in 12-round WBO Intercontinental title bout televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing® beginning at 10:35 p.m. ET/PT

After shadowboxing in the ring and a few rounds on the punching bags, both fighters participated in interviews with media members in attendance. Also on hand to catch the hometown hero were a dozen members of the West Oakland Boys and Girls Club chapter. Ward surprised the group of local youths with tickets to Saturday’s fight.

Below is what the fighters had to say during the final media workout:

ANDRE WARD, Two-Time World Champion and top-rated pound-for-pound fighter:

“It was good to get back in camp right after the last fight. I was a lot sharper early in camp than I normally am. The last couple of years, typically, you have to get the rust off first, then work on getting sharp, work on technique and the game plan. This training camp was continuous of the last training camp, I probably put in over 130 rounds. I feel really good.

“I know enough about Brand. He’s got everything to gain and nothing to lose. He swings for the fences with every punch. He’s a dangerous guy to fight.

“It feels good to be back at Oracle Arena multiple times this year. I don’t know how much stock you can put into the last couple of years. A lot of people are talking about it, but people have to weigh in the amount of time I have been doing this, which is all my life. You look at Floyd Mayweather, he took a couple of hiatuses and it may have given him two or three more years. It was a mental break and it was a physical break. Taking those couple years where maybe you’re not fighting as frequently, it’s not always a bad thing, especially late in your career.

“I came up a little different in my Olympic days. Virgil Hunter is the type of coach who will get you away from everybody and turn your phone off. We didn’t have snapchat in 2004, we didn’t have Instagram in 2004. We had a room that we all had to huddle around with desktop computers where we all had to get news about what was going on. But now, in 2016, I see the USA team snapchatting and Instagramming. Part of you wants to tell them to shut it down and do it like I did it, but that may not be the right thing. Understand why you’re there, understand you’re not going to get this moment again. You don’t typically repeat when you go for the Olympics. Understand why you’re there, take it seriously and everything else will fall in place.

“The key is to have a good team. I’ve got a great lawyer, a great manager and a great promotional team in Roc Nation Sports. They are going to make sure the details are right. This is a very much a business, and before there’s combat, business has to be handled and taken care of. I think fighters and all athletes should be unapologetic about taking care of business. That way, when you get into that ring or field or court, your mind can be free.

“Unfortunately, our women don’t get the respect they deserve, they don’t get the notoriety. They don’t get the exposure that they probably should get. Raquel Miller, who will be on the card, and other female fighters, they do what we do.  They’re training and grinding but they are not always noticed. I remember the Christie Martin days where she fought on the Mike Tyson undercards with Laila Ali. They got some good publicity and shine. However, there are so many other young female fighters coming up, ones who are established and have been fighting, whom people don’t know about. It’s a beautiful thing. I’m happy for Raquel and excited to have her on the card. I don’t believe when people say there is no market for women’s boxing. Let’s create a market then, let’s create some buzz!

“Sergey Kovalev is not on my mind at all. I’ve got a job to do. I haven’t even talked about Kovalev. We can talk about Kovalev on August 7th, that’s what I told my team. I didn’t watch his last fight, he’s not my next opponent but I know what happened and what people are saying about it.