By Lyle Fitzsimmons (photo by Cuarezma/FightWireImages)
In this corner… a 40-something Floridian hovering between atheist, agnostic and convert.
And in the other… a mid-20s Californian carrying the nickname “Son of God.”
Indeed, in spite of my wont to take cover whenever someone opens an interview by thanking a supreme being for favoring his consciousness over another’s in a boxing ring, I find it difficult to not root for a guy like Andre Ward.
And while we aren’t likely to be sharing a pew at a Christmas mass, I make no bones about the fact that I was pulling for the 25-year-old Oakland resident on Saturday night when he took a career-defining step against Edison Miranda.
Even though he’d been in just 18 fights against comparative nobodies – compared to the slugging Colombian’s 32 wins and 28 knockouts and three tough losses against reigning world champions at 160 pounds – I was confident Ward had what it took to get it done.
And when he closed out a clear-cut decision on Showtime, I felt as if he’d scored not only a win that’d propel him into championship-level discussions in the suddenly reawakening super middleweight division, but chalked one up for the good guys out there as well.
A winner of Olympic gold in the 2004 Summer Games at Athens, Ward reaped something less than the financial and recognition windfall such amateur success had provided those before him – most notably Oscar De La Hoya in 1992 and a handful of stars from 1984.
Even David Reid, courtesy of a one-punch KO in the 1996 Games in Atlanta, was gifted with a golden head start on a pro career that it turned out his talent hardly warranted.
By the time Ward climbed the podium stardom was no longer automatic.
So instead of the boxing capitals of Las Vegas and Atlantic City, Ward spent much of his formative time beating a path through the backwoods, competing in California, Tennessee, Florida, Oregon and Connecticut before his career was 10 bouts old.
He showed a willingness to jump puddles as well, flying to exotic locales like Saint Lucia in 2007 and the Cayman Islands in 2008, while anonymously climbing the ladder against the Roger Cantrells and Jerson Ravelos of the world.
“That's the way the game is sometimes,” he said. "You have different guys with different promoters and they have different plans for them from the start. People remember guys like Oscar, but they might not point out a guy like David Reid, who's a good friend of mine and won a world title, but didn't have a reign.
“That's where I want to be different. My goal isn't simply to win a championship and be finished. I want that to be the start of the process. I could've tried to get a title shot right away and finagled my way into a championship, but I want to earn it the right way and then hold on to it for a while.”
Reid won a world title at 154 pounds after two years as a pro and defended twice before a brutal decision loss to Felix Trinidad in 2000. He fought just four more times, ending his career at 17-2 after a stoppage defeat against 13-2-1 Sam Hill in 2001.
Hill, incidentally, is 3-9 since the ninth-round TKO win.
“I'm absolutely not just a shooting star,” Ward said.
He and I spoke shortly before the Ravelo fight and I headed to the Caribbean to watch it live, eventually becoming charmed by not only the steel drums and rum outside the ring – but by Ward’s obvious all-around skills as well.
His eight-round punch out of Ravelo was pretty much according to script on a muggy evening, leaving his before- and after-fight performance to get me thinking, more importantly, that he’s every bit as good a person as he is a fighter.
“I just can't wait to get home to my baby,” said Ward, who copped the WBO’s vacant North American title at 168 pounds against Ravelo just days after becoming a father for the third time. “I want to lay it down at her feet and just enjoy the accomplishment.”
Nice, as it turns out, doesn’t always mean soft.
Two non-descript wins followed Ravelo and led Ward into the Miranda triumph, which moved him to 19-0, let him retain his NABO and NABF regional titles and, most notably, elevated him to mandatory challenger status against incumbent WBC champion Carl Froch.
Froch, of course, stayed unbeaten by toppling another ex-Olympian from the U.S. – 2000 bronze medalist Jermain Taylor – with a dramatic final-round stoppage last month.
According to WBC rules, he’s now required to defend his title against Ward by April 25, 2010.
“Hey, I’m No. 1,” Ward said. “We’re both undefeated. Let’s get it on.”
So help me God… I hope it works out for him.
* * * * * * * * * *
To all those waiting for Nate Campbell to establish himself at 140 pounds… keep waiting.
A rumored bout between the former three-belt champion at 135 and recently crowned WBO junior welterweight kingpin Timothy Bradley “won’t happen anytime soon,” according to Campbell’s manager Terry Trekas.
“(Bradley promoter Gary) Shaw wants options on Nate in order to make the fight,” Trekas said on Monday. “That’s a deal-breaker.”
Campbell was also shut out of a chance to win the WBC title that Bradley held before wresting the WBO jewelry from Kendall Holt. The WBC belt was either surrendered by Bradley or stripped from him by Jose Sulaiman, depending on whom you believe.
Bradley’s publicist circulated a letter he’d apparently written to Sulaiman on April 27 declaring his intention to vacate the title.
Conversely, on the WBC Web site, a press release claims Bradley “stepped on the rule that gave him the WBC title, tarnishing the prestige, the image and the honor of all WBC champions.”
The crown will be claimed by the winner of a fight between No. 1 contender Devon Alexander and No. 2 contender Junior Witter, which is scheduled to go to purse bids on May 22 if no agreement is reached before that date.
Campbell, ranked No. 3, last fought in February on a Don King show in South Florida.
“We have a hearing on (May 27) that hopefully will end the battle with King, and then we can move on free and clear,” Trekas said.
Lyle Fitzsimmons is an award-winning 20-year sports journalist and a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com .
