Newly-Crowned WBA Champ Andre Ward: 'I'm Not Done Yet'

A former Olympic gold medalist, super middleweight Andre Ward knew that he was well-respected as a boxer.

But in lifting the 168-pound WBA crown from Denmark's Mikkel Kessler before his hometown crowd at Oracle Arena on Saturday night, the 25-year-old demonstrated his skills as a fighter.

Ward rose to 21-0 with 13 knockouts by defeating Kessler (42-2, 32 KOs), a man nicknamed "The Viking Warrior" and who was known for winning bouts on the road.

After their fight was stopped in the 11th round due to Kessler's bleeding cuts around both eyes -- ruled to have been caused by accidental head-butts -- Ward was declared the winner of a unanimous, 11th-round technical decision.

The matchup was the third in Group Stage One of Showtime's Super Six Super Middleweight World Boxing Classic, which is comprised of the premier athletes in the 168-pound division.

The two earlier Group Stage One matchups were won by Germany's Arthur Abraham and England's Carl Froch, respectively, over Arkansas' Jermain Taylor and Michigan's Andre Dirrell.

So the Europeans led 2-0 entering Ward's matchup, which he talked about with FanHouse during this Q&A on Monday.

FanHouse: Was it motivation for you to be the underdog?

Andre Ward: I was open for people picking Mikkel Kessler. You have to take that as motivation. I always told people that that was the logical pick, and the safe pick.

FH: There is often a difference between fighting and boxing, and in an old-school way, were you fighting Mikkel Kessler on Saturday night?

Ward: The way you just described what happened, I haven't heard anybody describe it like that, and I really think that you know what you were looking at. I don't think that it was a pretty fight, but that there were sequences where I was like, 'Wow, that's really just beautiful.'

FH: But isn't it effective in the way that sometimes guys have to just dig in and fight in order to turn the tables, sort of like Sugar Ray Leonard turned the tables and became a fighter instead of a boxer against Thomas Hearns, or how Carl Froch did what he felt he had to do to deal with Andre Dirrell?

Ward: Exactly. You have to fight. I think that my inside game was a major, major ingredient in the game plan, and that's something that has been evolving over the last couple of years.

I still have a long way to go, but I'm starting to really feel comfortable in the pocket. That's the point where I am right now. I feel comfortable right now, and I know what to do when I'm there.

FH: What is your response to Kessler's complaints of intentional head-butts?

Ward: I'm not a dirty fighter, so no, there were no intentional head-butts. This is no knock on the referee, and clinching is part of boxing, but there were several times -- and I don't think it was excessive -- where Kessler was literally wrapping both arms around me.

I remember six or seven times I literally said, 'Ref, he's holding me. Please, let me work ref.' We told the referee prior to the fight that when it got rough inside, that he likes to hold. And that we wanted a chance to break away from the hold and clinch and work.

More times than not, the referee broke us rather quickly, or he allowed us to clinch long enough to where he had to break us up. I think that I could have done an even better job if I had more of an opportunity.

But it is what it is, and we did what we did. And I felt like I still have a lot of room to grow, and I still feel like I have a lot of room to grow.



FH: It seemed like an animal surfaced from within you during the Edison Miranda matchup two fights earlier, so how much did facing Miranda set you up for Kessler?

Ward: You're right again. That individual, deep down inside, has always been there within me. I use it as motivation. I know he's there. I know that people, on the outside looking at me, they don't see that guy.

But I know that when I need that, I can turn that on. I don't want people to take this the wrong way, but I'm a mean fighter. I like to go to work in there, that's who I am. I don't play around in the ring. I'm not trying to be cute.

If you look at the Kessler fight, afterward, he said, 'Well, he spoiled my boxing.' But that's what I'm supposed to do. He said, 'He didn't let me do what I wanted to do,' well, that's the point.

FH: So is there just a time when you have to take whatever is given in the ring and live with it?

Ward: Exactly. Now, if I would have had the same excuse against Miranda, it wouldn't have been good enough. I felt like Miranda was literally leading with his head and being dirty.

It was clear to anybody in the building or watching on television that it was intentional. I wasn't coming as hard as Miranda in that respect, but I had to find a way to get Miranda off of me and to make him respect me, so I had to fight. Kessler couldn't do that, and I think that, because of the shock of the loss, I think their initial reaction was to complain.

It was just to make it seem as if I did something wrong. I foiled his game plan, and they couldn't do anything about it.

"I like to go to work in there, that's who I am. I don't play around in the ring. I'm not trying to be cute."
-- Andre Ward FH: Who were the fighters you referenced before facing Kessler who were similar underdogs who triumphed in big fights?

Ward: Sugar Ray Leonard wasn't supposed to beat Wilfred Benitez. Floyd Mayweather wasn't supposed to beat Genaro Hernandez. Muhammad Ali wasn't supposed to beat Sonny Liston in the first fight. Larry Holmes, Ken Norton. Those are the ones that really jump out at me.

FH: How are they demonstratively similar?

Ward: The mentality of the challenger in those fights was, 'Hey, I'm getting ready to take this belt.' I understood that mentality and that that's the mentality that I had to have.

FH: Can you duplicate that sort of mentality again?

Ward: I've got a newsflash for the rest of the division and for anybody that thinks that I'm letting up. I'm not satisfied with this belt. I want all of the belts. I want the WBC belt, the IBF belt, and -- if the opportunity arises to fight for it -- the WBO belt.

There are major belts out there that I'm gunning for. I'm still hungry, man. I'm still chasing. I'm going to enjoy this and relish it. So anybody who is feeling like they're chasing me, well, they need to get ready to run, because I'm still chasing stuff.

I've still got a lot of work to do. By no means am I resting on my laurels and what I've done or kicking my feet up. I'm not done yet.

FH: So how does it feel to finally have a belt?

Ward: Actually, I'm the champion, but I don't physically have a WBA belt of my own. The one that you see me holding actually belongs to Kessler, and I had to give it back to him out of respect. I'm told that mine is coming real soon, and I can't wait to get it.