Andre Ward, the light heavyweight considered by many to be the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, has announced his retirement.
In a post on his website titled “Mission Accomplished,” Ward wrote that his body could not longer take the punishment of boxing and that, as such, he’d lost his desire to fight.
Ward (32-0, 16 KOs) was coming off an eighth-round knockout of Russia’s Sergey Kovalev in June, a rematch of their November bout, which the American won by a controversial unanimous decision. Those pay-per-view fights came after a host of injuries and a promotional spat that plotted to limit him to four fights in the previous 50 months.
He went 114-5 in an astonishing amateur career that crowned with an Olympic gold medal at the Athens Games, which remains the last time an American has topped the podium in men’s boxing. The last time Ward lost a fight was against John Revish at the 1997 National Silver Gloves tournament in Baton Rouge when he was 13.
Peter Nelson, executive vice president of HBO Sports stated: "Andre Ward ends his boxing career as he only knew how to live it — as a champion at the top. To watch Ward was to marvel at constant mastery of craft in the ring, to say nothing of his being the consummate role model outside it. The Hall of Fame will be lucky to have him.”
Ward has retired with a record of 32 wins and no defeats, with 16 of his victories coming by knockout. He will vacate the WBA, IBF and WBO light-heavyweight titles and has previously been WBA and WBC super-middleweight champion, having shared a ring with Froch in a title fight back in 2011. The Brit lost a unanimous decision on that night but believes that this latest, very different decision could end up being reversed.
"He might just [come out of retirement] for one big fight. You never know," Froch told Sky Sports.
