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.