By Lem Satterfield

Andre Ward is a deeply religious, married, father of two young sons and a daughter.

But Ward is also a fighter who earned his Olympic gold in 2004, two years after having endured the death of his father, for whom his trainer, Virgil Hunter, has stepped in and become a male role model.

Long viewed as a young, up-and-coming prospect with the potential to be great, the 27-year-old Ward has transformed from a seemingly safety-first fighter into a veteran ring bully who routinely beats the crap out of his opponents.

"I've always had that fighter's mentality in me, and, you know, it's an old-school way of going about my craft. That's the way that coach Virgil has taught me. Coach Virg is one of the few men who come from the Bay Area who I know that come from that cloth," said Ward.

"I mean, we drill being inside in the clinches, being outside every single day to the point where it's evolved into what it is as my style today. The next piece of the puzzle is knowing when to go in, and when not go in. When do I have the advantage, and when is it not an advantage to go and fight on the inside," said Ward. "That's the last piece of the puzzle, and that's coming as well. It's just that old-school method often used by guys who know how to fight, and who are not messing around in there or trying to play around in there. They're trying to get the job done."

That blue collar, lunch-pale work ethic has been on display since Ward joined Showtime's Super Six Super Middleweight Classic, an event that has unleashed and awakened a beast that Ward said has been dormant within him for a time.

"I started off as a fighter, where I would just literally bull-doze my way out of the corner, non-stop. That's the way that I started out as a fighter. But as I got older, I started to go to these other competitions where I discovered that that wasn't always going to work," said Ward

"As an amateur, with the point system, they were looking for cleaner shots, and, you know crisper sort of boxing, so I had to evolve into a better, more defensive boxer," said Ward. "But I've always had the fighter in me. I've always been able to do what I needed to. And then, turning professional, after being an amateur for over a decade, I had to make another adjustment."

Considered one of the sport's premiere fighters, pound-for-pound, Ward (23-0, 13 knockouts) began the tournament with a November, 2009, beat-down that dethroned Denmark's WBA titlist Mikkel Kessler (43-2, 2), against whom Ward was a major underdog.

Kessler had more than twice as many victories and almost three times as many knockouts as Ward, in addition to having held a super middleweight crown for nearly five years, while Ward had been a professional for less than that amount of time.

Yet it was Ward who administered a a savage and bloody beating upon his rival on the way to an 11th-round, technical decision over Kessler, who had earned the WBA title with a seventh-round knockout of Manny Siaca on Dec. 12, 2004 -- six days before Ward made his professional debut by stopping Chris Molina in two rounds.

Next up was a June, 2010 butt-whipping of Allan Green (29-3, 20 KOs), who had lost only once prior to facing Ward.

Green labeled Ward as "a good young fighter," who "is like a humming bird, buzzing around and trying to get you to offset," adding, "I used to fight like that as an amateur, so I understand his style."

"For some reason, I look like lamb before the fight, but I'm not a pushover," said Ward, prior to facing Green. "At some point, people are going to have to respect that there is a real dog in me."

Ward delivered an equally impressive, in-your-face thumping upon Green, this, prior to continuing his blood-letting ways with November's out-of-the-tournament, unanimous decision defense of his crown against tough, title contender, Sakio Bika (28-5-2, 19 KOs), of Cameroon by way of Sydney, Australia.

"If anything, the developmental process had been sped up. I know that it's a fact that the tournament has made me grow up faster. It's sped up the learning curve. I basically had to either learn or go home, and I didn't want to go home. I had to win these fights against top competition, right off of the bat," said Ward.

"I think that if it wasn't for this tournament, I wouldn't be mentioned among the top fighters in the world right now. I feel like I am in this tournament for that reason," said Ward. "Fighting this top echelon of guys is causing me to evolve, and I don't know where the evolution is going to stop, or if it's ever going to stop. The goal is to keep getting better and to keep showing new things every fight out."

By the third round against Bika, Ward was cut over the left eye as a result of an accidental head butt, according to a ruling by referee Dave Stell, even as he rebounded to stagger Bika with a fourth-round left hook.
 
Bika often clubbed Ward with both hands during clinches, dictating a brawling rumble in the trenches. Still, Ward proved up to the task, firing strength-sapping volleys with both hands to the body whenever Bika tried in vain to hold on or otherwise smother Ward's offensive attack.

Perhaps the defining moment against Bika was with 64 seconds left in the 12th round, when Ward smiled after having absorbed four of an eventual seven, clubbing, haymaker right hands from his rugged challenger before coming back with a single, bludgeoning right hand of his own that had Bika pawing his bleeding left eye along the ropes and complaining to Stell.

"Obviously, it was an ugly contest, and a very physical contest. And at that moment, you know, it was just kind of, I don't know, the 12th round and it was just an exchange," said Ward of Bika, whose previous losses included those by decision opposite southpaw IBF super middleweight king, Lucien Bute (28-0, 23 KOs), of Canada, and, retired former titlist, Joe Calzaghe (46-0, 32 KOs), of Wales, respectively, in June of 2007, and, October of 2006.

"I think that throughout the fight, he was trying his best to dictate the fight the way that he likes to fight. I wouldn't say, necessarily, that he was trying to be dirty, but he was just clubbing and wrestling and all of that kind of stuff," said Ward. "You know, I may not have been in the zone where I was just flowing and clicking, but more in a zone where, you know, I was more or less saying, 'Man, that's not going to work tonight.' The best way that you can get a guy's attention is to hit him back. That's what I was trying to do in that moment of the 12th round."

Ward's victory had come over a man in Bika who was coming off of a July, 2010, first-round, disqualified loss to Jean Paul Mendy (29-0-1, 16 KOs) for hitting the Frenchman when he was down.

Bika had dropped Mendy to his knees with a left hand to the temple, and then hesitated before driving home a vicious right uppercut that caused a knocked-cold Mendy to pitch forward face-first where he lay motionless for about 20 seconds.

"I think that there are a lot of things that we've shown, from toughness to physical strength, to even punching power that may have surprised people. Guys may not consider me to be a one-punch knockout artist, but I have the power to get a guy out of there if he's hit right. I have yet to hear any of my opponents say anything about me not being physical after our fights," said Ward.

"So I think the areas that are my strength, physically, are my punching power, my willingness to get in there and to mix it up with the best. That's definitely garnered me more respect from my peers," said Ward. "But I honestly do not feel like I'm not shocked at what we've done, because Coach Virg has had me in there with some seasoned professionals and older guys since I was very green. So we've seen glimpses of this before now."

After dethroning England's Carl Froch (27-1, 20 KOs) as WBC king by unanimous decision in April, Kessler withdrew from the tournament with an eye injury in August.

Kessler's replacement, former light heavyweight world champion, Glen Johnson (51-14-1, 35 KOs), then scored a ninth-round knockout that eliminated Green.

Asked if he thought that his victory over Green took a lot out of the fighter for his bout with Johnson, Ward was non-committal.

"I don't know. That's up to you guys. A lot of people have been like, 'Man, Johnson was able to stop him, and you didn't,' and, of course, your natural instinct is to say, 'Well, you know, man, I'm the one who softened him up,'" said Ward.

"But that's not my job. I've got respect for Alan Green, and I hope that he bounces back and gets his career back on track, whether he moves up in weight or whatnot, it's hard to say," said Ward. "I just know that I did my job, and Glen Johnson did his job to win."

Froch regained the WBC crown that was vacated by Kessler with November's unanimous decision over Germany's former middleweight champ, Arthur Abraham (32-2, 26 KOs), who will meet Ward in a May 14 semifinal, after which Froch faces Johnson on June 4.

Prior to the loss to Froch, Abraham, similarly to Bika, was disqualied in the 11th round of a loss to switch-hitting Andre Dirrell (19-1, 13 KOs), of Flint, Mich., for hitting Dirrell when he was down.

"It's going to be the same type of deal, but the goal is to get even more fierce and even smarter with my style. A lot of people may not believe it, but it's not impossible to stop Arthur Abraham," said Ward.

"Arthur Abraham said that he has changed, and that he's put the past behind him," said Ward. "But is Arthur Abraham going to be dangerous? Absolutely. He's going to be very dangerous. But just as he's coming to take something, I'm defending something."

Abraham is coming off of December's second-round knockout of Stepan Bozic (24-5, 15 KOs).

"Every fight is a must-win for me, and the key is to try to take control right away. That's my job, and, that is my ultimate goal. I'm a very focused, very hungry fighter as well. In my next fight, I think that I will show those things," said Ward.

"Those feelings that Arthur Abraham has had, of discouragement and doubt, I've got to remind him of those feelings right away, and, as soon as possible in our fight," said Ward. "If I set the tone, like I'm supposed to, then we can get Arthur Abraham out of there."

After defeating Abraham, and then the Froch-Johnson winner for the Super Six championship, Ward said that he will then look to perhaps a clash with Bute.

"Naturally, it has to be Lucian Bute. That's the just the natural ticket. I just think that for the winner of this tournament, you know, he's the one. My goals are to crack the top fighter, pound-for-pound, list, and to God-willing, one day be on the very top of it," said Ward.

"We still have a lot of work to get there, but that starts by winning this Super Six, and to be recognized as the best super middleweight in the world. But I also want to be the Ring Magazine champ, and to be the undisputed middleweight champion," said Ward. "But you have to fight Lucien Bute to get to that point, and I think that that's the natural match up for the winner of this tournament."

Ward said that he would also entertain bouts opposite opponents such as WBC lightheavyweight king, Jean Pascal (26-1-1, 16 KOs), former two-division titlist Bernard Hopkins (52-3-2, 38 KOs), or even ex-WBC interim light heavyweight belt-holder Chad Dawson (29-1, 17 KOs) or WBC "emeritus" middleweight champ, Sergio Martinez (47-2-2, 26 KOs).

"Sergio has said himself that 168 may be too high for him, but that's not necessarily on my radar. I'm not searching for guys outside of my weight class, necessarily. I want to take care of the business at hand in the super middleweight division, and then, sit back as a team and figure out what's next," said Ward.

"I think that there are more things that are going to come in the future from me, and that I'm going to keep on surprising people," said Ward. "I think that you will see that the best is yet to come, and I'm talking, even in my next fight. As we move forward, maybe we're going to even shock ourselves."