Andre Ward admits he doesn’t care if he is Mr Unpopular.. as long as he’s rated as an all-time great
Ward is one of the top fighters of his era but won't get wide approval even if he topples unified champ Sergey Kovalev
ANDRE WARD makes no apology for the fact he is not more popular.
The American is regarded as one of the finest boxers on the face of the planet — one of the best of his era.
Yet not even victory over unified light-heavyweight champ Sergey Kovalev in Las Vegas tonight is likely to win him widespread approval.
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Ward, however, insists his priority is to be a sweet science great instead of a famous fighter the general public adore.
The Californian, 32, said: “I’m just being me. If I’m not enough, I don’t know what to tell you. I’m not going to apologise about it.
“I wouldn't be able to get to this level and stay at this level if I checked in and checked out. It's the same dedication and it's the same work.
“For me it's about trying to be the best in a sport where there's little room for error.”
Trained by Virgil Hunter — who also coaches Amir Khan — Ward would undoubtedly be more popular if his success had not been built on a largely defensive approach in the ring.
But you cannot argue with the style of a man who struck gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics and also won the WBA Super and WBC world super-middleweight titles before moving up a division.
Tonight he can add Kovalev’s WBA Super, IBF and WBO light-heavyweight belts to a glittering CV when they collide at the T-Mobile Arena.
Ward added: "I have never won big fights just doing one thing, being one-dimensional. I typically do the opposite of what people think I am going to do.
"We have a game plan and the bottom line is making the necessary adjustments. You have to be able to adjust on the fly and that is what the great ones do."
Unbeaten Ward boasts a deal with sports brand Jordan, is backed by Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports management company and stars from NBA side Golden State Warriors regularly attend his fights.
He even had a role in Rocky spin-off Creed — but has yet to win over casual fight fans.
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His approach is highly unlikely to change against 33-year-old Kovalev as he looks to record a 31st pro victory.
But Russian knockout artist Kovalev has certainly done all he can to throw a man who boasts victories over British duo Carl Froch and Paul Smith off his game.
Ward said: “We are not supposed to like each other. His side has been doing a lot of talking and that's fine, we love it, it's not our first rodeo.
"We don't always respond right away and sometimes our silence is misinterpreted as we don't understand or we don't get it.
"We get it, we watch, we take notes. But in the meantime we keep working and produce come fight night. That is what we specialise in.
"All the talking is great, I love it. But know one thing, I am not taking no mess."