A shoo-in for the boxing hall of fame, 2-weight world champion Andre Ward caught up with HBO Boxing’s Jim Lampley and discussed the fallout to his decision to retire back in late September.
Ward has admitted to feeling frustrated and says his retirement has been harder than he thought it would be. On the other hand, the 2004 Olympic Gold medalist did confirm he does not harbour any doubts or considering second thoughts concerning a return to the squared circle.
Ward sent shockwaves through the boxing establishment when he announced his retirement. We have seen many legendary champions call time on their career in 2017.
Juan Manuel Marquez, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Wladimir Klitschko and Miguel Cotto, to name a few. But Ward differed from the pack because he still had so much to offer at the elite world championship level of the sport.
He had just eradicated the deadliest foe in his domain for the second time in Sergey Kovalev and he seemed as though he was set to build a legacy in the light-heavyweight division.
Ward decision to step away from the sport at the tender age of 33 places the Oakland native in a class alongside Lennox Lewis and Joe Calzaghe, to mention a couple who hung up their gloves while still being the number one fighter in their division.
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“I don’t think there’s second thoughts,” Ward told Lampley on HBO Boxing’s ‘The Fight Game’ which aired on Wednesday night.
“But I will tell you this – retirement is a lot harder than I thought it would be. You know, I’ve read about athletes retiring, fighters retiring. I’ve heard about it.”
“I studied it, kind of what’s the right time and those kind of things. But there’s a detox that has to take place.”
“I’ve been doing this 23 years straight, and then, all of a sudden, it’s gone. It’s a process.”
“But it’s a process that I felt I had to undertake. I’m up for the challenge and I just hope to be someone that the younger fighters can point to and say, ‘He did it the right way,” Andre Ward concluded.
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