ESPN.com reported Thursday that WBA, WBC and The Ring super middleweight champion Andre "Son of God" Ward has received medical clearance to begin training and using his left hand.
Ward (25-0, 13 KOs), voted the 2011 “Fighter of the Year” by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA), fractured his hand in two places prior to unifying two belts and winning The Super Six World Boxing Classic on December 17when he trumped Carl Froch by unanimous decision atBoardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
Ward, a Bay Area native who became the first American to capture boxing gold in eight years as a light heavyweight at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, told Dan Rafael of ESPN.com that his doctor’s visit “went well.”
"It went well," said Ward, 27, currently rated by Ring Magazine as the fifth pound-for-pound boxer in the world. "The hand is much better, somewhere around 90 percent. The key is to let pain be my guide. If something hurts, don't do it."
“The Son of God,” who has unbelievably not vacated the squared circle on the losing end of a bout since he was a 12-year-old amateur, is required to defend one of his crowns at some point against Anthony Dirrell.
Roger "Pit" Perron is a venerable boxing trainer from Brockton (Mass.) who now works with Mike and Rich Cappiello at their gym, Cappiello Brothers Boxing and Training.
Perron raved about Ward and predicts he will dominate the middleweight landscape well into the foreseeable future.
“Ward clearly sticks out in the division,” said Perron, 75, who worked with International Boxing Hall of Famer Marvelous Marvin Hagler at the Petronelli Brothers Gym. “He had just a great performance his last time out. No other fighter is close to him.”
Ward is now in position to become a national superstar and household name like fellow American gold medalists Muhammad Ali, "Sugar" Ray Leonard and Oscar De La Hoya.
After all, “no other fighter is close to” Andre Ward.
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