Boxer Andre Ward on Floydmania, His Deal With Brand Jordan and Boxing Exit Strategy

In our interview, you’ll notice hints of Ward’s displeasure with his current deal, which runs through 2015. He faces an uphill battle, but was in high spirits. The interview lasted a little over 45 minutes.

B.E. Sports Biz: You’re doing a lot of television for HBO Boxing and not to be a suck up, but you’re quite good at it. What kind of training went into that?

Andre Ward: For me, I think a lot of my training came from watching. I’m a visual learner. I knew this was something that I wanted to do. I don’t just watch boxing broadcasts, I watched football, basketball, baseball, you name it. I looked for things like mannerisms, body language, the energy they display; but also in the midst of all of that; understanding that I have to be myself. That was like my education. Then from there it was just getting the reps. I got some smaller opportunities with some small networks. Ironically enough, before I got the gig with HBO I did an internship to learn the business from the production side with Comcast in San Francisco. I had a couple of auditions with HBO and they went well. Now it’s just about getting more and more polished. I watch guys like Jim Lampley and Max Kellerman and Al Bernstein, who’s been a tremendous help and taken me under his wing mentoring me. He’s probably helped me the most out of everyone.

I really just have the desire to get better at it. I have an advantage over most guys because I am a boxer, but doing television is a completely different animal. That’s why I need to study and take notes if I’m going to become a great broadcaster, and I do want to become a great broadcaster. I have a stack of notes — I take reps in the mirror like most people [Laughs]. It’s work. It’s not easy. I feel like I have a natural something about me that makes me a really good communicator but I still have a lot of work to do.

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