He has always been a quiet man, in and out of the ring, right up until he had something to say. That’s when Andre “S.O.G.” Ward lights up.
Take the topic of knucklehead du jour Ja Morant.
“It looks like your talent has gotten you to a place where your character is not keeping you,” says the retired boxing Hall of Famer about the troubled two-time NBA All-Star. “I would show him a list of guys who fell out of the League, who got blackballed, who blew it because they couldn’t separate themselves [from bad advice].”
Ward didn’t possess the hardest punch or the quickest feet, yet he has made a name for himself even though he’s lucky to be here.
Growing up in Oakland, CA, he witnessed firsthand his mother’s crack addiction. Heroin was his father’s demon.
His mom (Madeline Arvie Taylor) is still here, but his dad (Frank Ward) passed away from a heart attack in 2002, right before S.O.G. – son of God – made it.
You can watch the trials and tribulations of Ward up close in the Showtime documentary “S.O.G.: The Book of Ward” premiering Friday, June 2 at 8 p.m. EDT.
Produced by Uninterrupted, the company created by LeBron James and Maverick Carter, with executive producers James, Carter, co-directed and co-produced by Rachel Neubeck with co-director Diane Thompson, the film follows Ward from his youth to being inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the Class of 2021 which was held last June due to Covid restrictions.
A gold-medal winner at the 2004 Athens Olympics, a two-time U.S. National Champ with a 115-5 amateur mark, Ward turned pro and finished his career with a perfect 32-0 record with 16 kayos and title belts at 168 and 175 pounds.
Ward retired in 2017 and was inducted into the Hall in his first year of eligibility. He currently shares his ring knowledge on ESPN.
His life almost took a horrible wrong turn as he tells the story while dealing drugs, he had to swallow a bunch of crack envelopes he was selling to avoid revealing them to the police who had stopped to talk to him.
He rushed home to tell his mom, worried about the damage a burst envelope could do. After consuming “chocolate Ex-Lax” to assist in the evacuation, he decided to forego cleaning off the soiled envelopes, and instead flushed them down the toilet and never looked back at that life.
“It’s crazy,” Ward recalls of his “what-the-hell” moment. “You’re heading in that [wrong] direction, going 100 miles an hour, and the warnings are coming, and people are saying stuff. I just didn’t see it.
“So, when I’m in that moment, it all came crashing down and I found myself at every crossroad, looking up and talking to God. It was confirmation that you’re not built for this. If you don’t stop, you are going to die or go to jail.”
Ward listened to the Almighty. He and his wife Tiffiney, both licensed ministers, are enjoying life raising their five adorable children.
In the ring he was a perfect technician, but not a must watch. No buzz or razzmatazz to his game, but the Raiders’ Al Davis would have loved him because he just won, baby.
Ward captured the Super Six 168-pound tournament in 2011 with wins over a two-year period against Mikkel Kessler, Allan Green, Arthur Abraham and Carl Foch, who goes into the Hall of Fame in June.
He beat Sergey Kovalev for the light-heavyweight belt twice, once in a controversial decision and the other in a convincing 8th round knockout. Those two wins are Ward’s only pay-per-views and were his final fights.
Retired at age 33 and now 39, Ward’s done, but done-done?
“I don’t think it was ever fully done-done,” chuckles Ward who should have had a mega-fight versus Canelo Alvarez. “It’s been a part of my life for two decades.”
And if you never get back in the ring?
“I’m content with it,” he says almost convincingly. He also played boxer Danny Wheeler in the movies Creed I and II.
Ward keeps in the game as a talented boxing analyst for ESPN though he sounds more like a speaker at a “TED Talks” seminar when he questions his sport.
“All we get told as fighters is you better save your money,” states Ward who follows his own message and would like to grow a ministry. “You’ve got to know how to invest, who to invest with and that’s how you’re going to make it and not have to [make a] comeback. We’re just not taught.
“They take three percent per belt from fighters. I asked where’d that number comes from? Why is it okay to just skim three percent not of the net, but the gross? Where does this money go? Is there a pension plan? Is there health care?”
He livens up again when the talk returns to Morant, one of the most exciting NBA players, who’s looking at a lengthy suspension for flashing a handgun – again.
“Ja has to do some soul searching and really ask himself what’s the root of all this?” Ward wonders. “Is it because I’m trying to be hard and portray an image? Does the money have me feeling tougher than I am?
“You’re Ja Morant … you’re a business. You are a corporation, and you should have top-flight security around, but son, you’re moving like you’re not who you are.”
Why give advice to Morant?
“The way we were raised, we don’t share our family business,” Ward explains. “It got to the point where I thought it would be selfish not to share my struggles and what I’ve overcome and also [by] talking to young guys.”
He shares it in “The Book of Ward,” warts and all.