← Straight Shooter with Stephen A.
Straight Shooter with Stephen A.
Interview Only: Former Boxing Champion Andre Ward discusses J Paul and Mike Tyson's Legacy, they got PAID!
00:30:33
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- [00:00]
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- [00:29]
Greg Rosenthal
What's up everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal and I'm teaming up with the King of Spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs mock drafts to my top 101, free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents starting on March 6th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [01:03]
Stephen A. Smith
My next guest retired from boxing with an undefeated record of 32. And oh, he held world championship titles in both the super middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. But more importantly, he was in an anal. He was an analyst. Friday night for the fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul. Please welcome to the Stephen A. Smith show, one of the greatest fighters in history, retiring again as an undefeated champion, the one and only Andre Ward. What's up, big time? How you doing, man? How's everything, man?
- [01:31]
Andre Ward
You know, it's always a pleasure to be on with you, man. How you doing, man?
- [01:35]
Stephen A. Smith
Please, pleasure's all mine, my man. Give it to me straight. What were your thoughts after witnessing that fight Friday night?
- [01:42]
Andre Ward
It's what I thought it was going to be. People signed up for this fight. They tuned, tuned in. They showed up to AT&T Stadium partly because of Jake Paul, his following and everything that he brings to the table. But then it's also, they wanted, it was the idea of who Mike Tyson was. They forgot about him being 58 years old. They glossed over that and Mike being a master salesman and, and being that guy that when he gets into that mode, that fight mode, he can come with these one liners and these quips that get people excited. That's what people signed up for. But when he got in the ring, you saw maybe one or two rounds of flashes of Mike, that explosiveness, that power that didn't land clean, but you saw him unleash that power and it got people excited. But 58 took over. 58 wasn't playing around on fight night. And that's just what you saw Friday night.
- [02:38]
Stephen A. Smith
You know, you say that you saw for the first couple of rounds, I ain't gonna lie to you. I saw for about a minute. I saw it for about a minute, Andre. And then after that, he looked tired as hell, man. And. And I found myself really, really getting sad because I was scared that Jake was going to hurt him because you 31 years younger. And I knew fatigue when he walked into the ring. If you remember Andre, he stumbled a little bit, walk into the ring, and then I saw that he had on a knee brace on his right knee. And I was like, oh, my God, I got really, really scared for him. At any point in time, consider even though the ring was long, was big, was. Was, was bigger, and they were wearing 14 ounce gloves. And anytime. Did you find yourself scared for Mike Tyson?
- [03:21]
Andre Ward
Yeah, I was concerned for sure, leading up to the fight. And then, you know, as the fight was taking place, as they walk into the ring, I walked. I was working the desk for Netflix. I walked from around the desk and I'm. I'm facing the ring and I could have the biggest jumbotron above me, and I had the, you know, a direct view to the ring. And I was, man, I was, I was, I was extremely nervous because some of those punches just missed Mike Tyson's chin in those first couple rounds. And that's not something that, that I was gonna be okay with if Jake Paul went in there. And I said this in my interview with Mike Tyson, when I interviewed him, I said, man, if Jake goes in there with an agenda and something bad happens, Mike, we, meaning my generation, we ain't gonna be. We ain't gonna appreciate that. So I was very concerned. And even though people, most people in the arena expected something else from Mike Tyson, I gotta give Jake Paul credit and I appreciate him taking his foot off the gas. That's not good for marketing or the paying audience. They want to see what they want to see. But I appreciate him taking his foot off the gas, you know, for those last four rounds and not try to press the issue. Right.
- [04:29]
Stephen A. Smith
So, Dre, you're of the mindset before I brought you on what I gave him, what my opening monologue saying to folks is that I saw Jake in the ring recognizing it wasn't something that was preordained, something that happened before the fight, but what I saw throughout my years of watching boxing, because I saw this with Larry Holmes, with Muhammad Ali, along with various Others. I saw Jake looking over at Mike Tyson and it was almost as if he said, I can't do this. I, I can't do this to him. He is 31 years older than me. I'm really taking advantage. He's, he's not what he used to be. I'm not gonna do that to him. And I was actually very proud of, of Jake for doing that. That's what I saw. Are you confirming that's what you saw?
- [05:16]
Andre Ward
Yeah, that's what I saw. That's exactly what I saw. And people are saying it's scripted. I, I don't think it was scripted with these guys sat in the room and said, okay, this how the fight's gonna go, punch for punch, like, like, like it's a, you know, a movie. But what did happen was Jake recognized what you just mentioned and he made game time decision to choose Mike's well being. The well being of, of how he's going to be received from the general public and more specifically the boxing public over the cheers and everybody saying it was a great event. He had to choose one. And he chose right because it wouldn't have been good. And I, I personally mean if something, something happened to Mike Tyson in that ring, it was going to be real hard for me to hold my composure when I got that mic to close out that event.
- [06:00]
Stephen A. Smith
Well, let me ask you this. When you say our generation isn't going, you know, would not have taken it lightly had he really went in there with an agenda and done harm to Mike Tyson. Be specific. What would have been the reaction had he, had, had he done what we, we feared could have happened to Mike Tyson. Explain to the audience what that would have been like for Jake Paul.
- [06:21]
Andre Ward
Well, Jake is already dealing with backlash just for the fact that he took the fight with Mike Tyson at 58 years old. You got to realize lifers like myself, individuals who've been in the game since they've been, you know, babies. We grew up in this, this is what we do. This is what we're always going to do. We always going to be in a fight game in some way, fashion or form. He would have got a lot of backlash. He would have got a lot of backlash way more than what he's getting right now. People don't like the age gap and they say, man, that's weak that you, come on, bro, you fight Mike at 58 years old. But if Mike Tyson would have got knocked out, man, it would have been an outcry from the younger generation saying, bro, you know, that that's, that's not only weak, but come see me about something.
- [07:02]
Stephen A. Smith
I'm interested. I'm glad you brought that up.
- [07:05]
Andre Ward
It's already happened.
- [07:06]
Stephen A. Smith
No, go ahead, go ahead.
- [07:06]
Andre Ward
Way worse than what it is now, no question.
- [07:10]
Stephen A. Smith
I mean, listen, because he shouldn't have gotten a ring with him to begin with, but I do applaud him for not taking advantage of it like he could have and really doing harm. And let's call it what it is, he could have done harm because of what we saw from Mike Tyson. The 58 year old Mike Tyson, Jake Paul in the ring with a young Mike Tyson couldn't have lasted two rounds as far as I'm concerned, okay? But this Mike Tyson is just a different animal and we get all of that. Having said that, first of all, props to you, your Art of Ward podcast because that's when you did talk to Mike Tyson. You've been doing a lot of great work. Keep up that. I'm going to get into that with you in just a few minutes, but I want to get back to this. When you talk about, you would have, he would have had some people coming from him. People have asked Andre Ward over the last few days, would you fight Jake Paul? Would you be interested in coming out of retirement and going at this cat? What's your answer to something like that and why?
- [08:00]
Andre Ward
Yeah, I'm open to a conversation about it. I'm not one of these cats. Like, I don't move out of anger, I don't move out of emotion. I don't do that in my life and I didn't do that in the ring. I'm very calculated, I'm very thoughtful about every decision I make, which is why a lot of people like, why did you say his name and just call him out on the broadcast? Well, I know who I'm dealing with. This is a, one of the biggest influencers in the world. This is a youtuber and I just saw him do it today. Arthur Better Beer, who's a pound for pound, top five pound for pound fighter in the world. He directly called out Jake Paul and Jake Paul used it in his favor. He said, ah, look at this, I got a pound for pound fighter calling me out. I run the game. I don't really move like that. But what I am doing is telling them, I painting a picture like this, brother, I'm 40 years old. In boxing terms, I'm an old man, right? I ain't touched the boxing ring in seven years. If you want to legitimize yourself, which is really Whether you admit it or not, that's really what you after. Come see somebody who can give you the credentials you need. Whether you win or lose, you need that in. In under your belt if you're gonna legitimize yourself to this community. Now, you may say, I don't care. You may say, I'm not worried about that, but the truth is, you really are. You want to be embraced by individuals in this game to say, man, I respect Jake Paul. So if you want to do that, I'm open for a conversation, but at the same time, I'm not chasing this dude. I'm not trying to, you know, I'm not getting into that to the pig pen and doing all of that, but. But I am open for a discussion. And since you like fighting older guys, I'm an older guy now, and I ain't touched the ring of seven years, so I think it'll be interesting.
- [09:31]
Stephen A. Smith
The thing if it was, shoot, it'll be better than interesting. I'd love to see it personally, but it's for a different reason. It's. It's for a different reason, Dre. On one hand, I'm torn, and I'm gonna be very, very. You know, I'm just gonna keep it 100. You look at Jake Paul, I really, really appreciate what he's done for the sport of boxing in terms of bringing attention to it and showing the world you don't have to be at the mercy of promoters in order to go and make a bag. You getting in the boxing ring, I don't believe the fighters have messed up boxing. I believe the promoters have messed up boxing because they've restricted and, or rather denied us from seeing the fights we want to see when we want to see them. And it's done harm to the sport and simultaneously has helped build the UFC because they got somebody in Dana White that makes sure you get the fights that you want to see when you want to see them, as opposed to waiting five, six, seven years to get it. In that regard, I give Jake Paul all the respect and the love in the world. On the other hand, you fight in basketball players, strikers, in the ufc, no name boxers, barely with any kind of reputation whatsoever. But then you talking about how guys like Canelo, you know, they need you, you don't need them, et cetera. And I'm saying to myself, yo, man, at some point in time, you can't be training professionally as a boxer, being trained by professional boxing trainers, and continuously going into the ring against cats who don't fight. I think that's wrong. To that, you say what?
- [11:03]
Andre Ward
I mean, first off, I agree, and I second what you're saying. I've always given Jake Paul respect for the hustle, the grind, getting it out the mud the way he did and then bringing his fan base over here. You can't get mad at this man for, you know, selling the tickets that he sells and. And gaining the money and earning the money that he's. That he's earned, right? He's done it the hard way. So that's in one category, compartmentalize, that if you. You know, he is young in the game. So I understand a level of that, right? Like, you gotta work your way up. I'm not. I'm not knocking all the guys he fought up to this point. But at a certain point, bro, like, like, if you're really about this, like. Like, Jake Paul calls himself the face of box. And I can't give you that. You're a good salesman, you a good marketer, and you. And you sell tickets. Selling tickets and having interest when you fight is one box that you check. If you want to be the face of boxing, it's a few other boxes you ain't checked yet. And one of them boxes is, man, you got to fight somebody and you got to prove yourself. You don't get to sidestep that. You can't be the face of boxing because you. You're a marketing genius. We know you can do that. We respect you on that. Because anytime you press Jake Paul, he brings up the numbers. We see that, man, we salute you on that. But if you want to really call yourself the face of boxing, bro, you got to get into the fire. Ain't no face of boxing. Ain't nobody that's considered the face of boxing ain't been to the fire time and time again. We've yet to see that with Jake, so. So though we respect certain things, I can't give you that. Not gonna happen. You gotta earn that.
- [12:30]
Stephen A. Smith
And not only that, earning it. Part of earning it is also showing respect. Like, you can't sit up there and say, I don't need Canelo. Canelo needs me. That's Canelo Alvarez. You understand what I'm trying to say? I mean, that's Canelo Alvarez Better bf, sitting up there saying, I fight at 175 pounds. You went in the ring, what Was Jake like? 228? Better be. I was like this. I'll fight you. Better be. I was like, I'll fight you. He had 175David you know, David Benavidez, the Mexican monster, he fighting at 168. He said, I'll fight him. So I'm like, well, wait a minute now. You got cats 50, 60 pounds lighter than you saying, let's go. And to me, that's not. And correct me if you think I'm wrong, I don't think that's about the money. I think that's about them being elite at their craft. Watching this cat, thinking he's something that they don't believe he is, because as you said, you ain't been into any kind of fire. How dare you disrespect the sport like that? That's what I got from them. What did you get when you see them going at Jake Paul like that?
- [13:33]
Andre Ward
I understand what I'm dealing with. Jake Paul is a master marketer. His nickname is the Problem Child. He. He wants you to love to hate me. That's why people fill out the arenas, and that's why people buy the pay per views. It's not everybody don't hate Jake Paul. You got a lot of support, a lot of people pulling for, especially the younger generation. But part of his deal, part of what he markets, part of what he puts out there is he says the most outlandish thing because he's going to get a reaction. It's all calculated. So me personally, even though it's disrespectful, I don't take it personal because I understand who's saying what they saying. I don't take the Canelo Alvarez comment personal. I know he wants Canelo to take the bait because Canelo's already said, I'm not interested in fighting you. So with me, it's not a hard press. I'm not gonna be the guy to say, fight me, Jake Paul. Nah, man, I'm. I'm a Hall of Famer. I don't have to say that. But it's a soft press. You want to have a conversation, we could talk about it. And if you want to legitimize yourself and stop saying you the face of boxing, but prove you willing to go through the fire like the other faces of boxing did, then we could talk about that, too.
- [14:36]
Stephen A. Smith
When Canelo snaps at a reporter or somebody that asked him about, if I remember when he said somebody asked him about Jake Paul, he said, I don't give a f about Jake Paul. Whatever it was that he said, do you believe it's justified for a fighter to be completely annoyed at somebody? I'm talking about a world championship fighter to be completely Annoyed at somebody coming up to them saying they should fight Jake Paul. I understood what. Where Canelo's coming from. Anybody for that matter. If, like you said, if you've been in a fire, how dare anybody come to me and act like I'm supposed to fight you? And, you know, you're a YouTuber that. That turned to boxing, and I'm a champion. Walking around here and y'all acting like I need him. Do you think they're justified and feeling annoyed when people come at them like that about Jake Paul?
- [15:23]
Andre Ward
I understand completely where Canelo's coming from. If I was an active fighter, I wouldn't entertain it either. You know, when you. When you in the fire and you still in the game like that, you got. You got real. Real issues and beef going on. You got real opponents, like dudes that can really hurt you that you need to figure out how to beat them and when we gonna fight and all that kind of stuff. I don't have time to entertain the circus. I don't have time for you to have my name even associated with a dude that. That ain't really a fighter like that. So I understand completely with it. He's an active fighter, man.
- [15:55]
Stephen A. Smith
He.
- [15:56]
Andre Ward
He got way bigger fish to fry in terms of legacy, and. And. And he's in a line of fire. He still got danger around the corner, somebody that's always coming for his spot. So he ain't got a lot of time to entertain that kind of stuff. But you know how it goes, Stephen. And people say they're not interested in something until that number get large enough and all of a sudden start making a lot of.
- [16:16]
Stephen A. Smith
You know, when Mike Tyson slapped him, it had over 160 million views on Instagram alone. I think that speaks to the power. I think that speaks to the power of social media. Is that the new frontier of boxing promotion in your estimation?
- [16:33]
Andre Ward
I think it's been taken over for a long time. You know, obviously you came up in the print era, the younger generation, man. The attention span is very, very low. They're not reading articles anymore, even digital articles. They're not really reading those. They're looking the headline, look at the quotes, and then they move on. So the quick clips, the quips, the things that are said, the viral videos, that's what time it is, man. And that's why you see so many athletes taking control of the narrative and promoting their own content, getting their own message out there and sending the message that they want the public to. To digest.
- [17:08]
Stephen A. Smith
You were named all the Smoke Fights Chief Content officer in September. I wanted you to tell us about that and, and what's that been like for you? The Art of Ward, as they call it, that airs on all the smokes YouTube channel, by the way. Proud of them brothers. What's. Talk to me about that, what you're doing with them?
- [17:24]
Andre Ward
Well, man, I've been talking to Matt for me in the last, you know, year, BD co founder for the past year and you know those brothers, Matt Stack established himself in a powerful, powerful way by, you know, not just having athletes, but anybody, entertainers, politicians now. And they allow the guests to come on, they ask tough questions, but they allow the guests to come on there and control their own narrative. That's one of the things in media that I really despise and didn't like about media was oftentimes a media member will come to the dance. It could be a fight week, it could be open workout or a phone or whatever you want to call it. And they, they think that they have your narrative down pat. They think that they know what you're and how you're going to answer. So what's the best way to change that? You can either complain about that or you can be part of the solution. So Matt and Stack were part of the solution. They dealt with the same thing. And now I'm in the same driver's seat where I have a lot of control, a lot of creative control, and I can use my creativity and my relationship to get people on the show to that have a message to tell that talks about their struggles, talks about the triumphs, how they were built, how they got to this point. And we ask tough questions. I approach every interview genuinely curious. I think that comes across on the screen. But we allow that guest to control their narrative, whether people agree with it or not. And that's why I love the platform that we have at all the smoke fight.
- [18:52]
Stephen A. Smith
How much do you love giving boxing analysis? Cause I'm on the record, you know how I feel about you. I bet we've been boys for years. I got so much love for you, so much respect and I know how brilliant you are, not just as a fighter, fighter, but as a person, a highly intelligent person. How much have you enjoyed doing boxing commentary?
- [19:12]
Andre Ward
That's my baby, you know that? That's my baby. I no longer do it. But when you do boxing commentary, you have the best seat in the house. You're just not taking no punches. So I still got the same feelings, excitement, the goosebumps, all the stuff that, that I would have not so much as if I was fighting, but it's as close as I can come to. To get in that ring. And, man, I just get to share my heart about what I'm seeing, man. I. I obviously have a lot of knowledge, a lot of deep experience in the game, but even more so than that, I want to communicate this in a way that people can digest it and understanding, understand it, and hopefully fall in love with the sport. So that's my baby, man. No matter what I do in life, I hope I always have a. My hand on the game and some kind of respects through the commentating broadcasting aspect, man, because I just absolutely love it, man.
- [20:01]
Stephen A. Smith
Listen, I'm. Shoot, I'm gonna say it plain and simple. I didn't have that big of an interest to go into the fight. Netflix, you know, wanted me to do something, but obviously I'm working for espn and that was something that couldn't be worked out. The only reason I was interested in it was because I was gonna be sitting next to you calling a fight with you. That's the only reason I was. That's the only reason I was gonna come, because I was looking forward to it, man. So that's how much. That's how much respect and love that I. I have for you. I'm gonna let you get on out of here, but before I do, of all the interviews that you have done thus far, what's been your most interesting? I know you've talked to Terrence Crawford, Anderson Silva, Shakur Stevenson, if I remember correctly, Devin Haney as well. Who's been your most interesting interview?
- [20:41]
Andre Ward
They've all been amazing for different reasons, but I would say the most interesting was Mike Tyson. I had never. I had only met Mike Tyson, been around him, you know, physically, one time in my life, I think in passing, in Las Vegas. So, you know, everything had been from a distance, and as soon as Mike walked in the room, you know, you can't really prepare for a person's. The vibe that they bring in the room. And Mike has a presence about it. You know what I mean? Like, I had to get myself together a little bit. I normally don't have to worry about that. Like, I've been in a lot of places around a lot of people. I had to take a deep breath and get myself together. Mike has a presence about sitting down. He's such a conundrum, man. He's such a hybrid. Like, he's deep, he's philosophical, but you see that look in his eyes. He's got that other side, too. You Hear it come out, you know, that fighter and that. That, you know, I'm coming to get you. He still got that about it. Mike also seems conflicted with some of the things that. That he struggles with and balances out. He'll tell you, like, brother, I don't know. I'm trying to figure it out. He's also just extremely honest and transparent, which I think that's what's caused people, even in the midst of his highs and lows, have caused them to gravitate toward Mike, especially at their older age, because I think everybody sees a little bit of themselves in Mike Tyson. Mike is very open. He's an open book. And I just walked away, man. Just. I got more than I expected. So the Mike Tyson interview is the top interview right now.
- [22:06]
Stephen A. Smith
You talked about getting more than you expected. What fight do you think is out there now that we all should want to see where we probably get more than we expected? What's the ideal fight, the matchup that you'd like to see at this stage.
- [22:18]
Andre Ward
In point, man, in the pro game? Like. Like boxing, right?
- [22:22]
Stephen A. Smith
Yes, yes, yes.
- [22:24]
Andre Ward
Oh, man, that. That's a good one, man. It's. I don't know. It's tough. Stephen A. Because the game is different, man. It's different, you know, and it's. It's a lot of, like, it's a lot of strategy going on with guys not taking fights and why they not taking fights, man, it's hard to call out a fight, man. I like the. The Terence Crawford, Canelo Alvarez fight. A lot of people say, you know, so do I, that I'm crazy for thinking that Terence Crawford could win that fight. And my thing is, it's like, okay, well, if you don't think that Terence Crawford can outbox Canelo Alvarez, you. You may have to check your eyes.
- [23:06]
Stephen A. Smith
You're not watching. Absolutely, Absolutely.
- [23:10]
Andre Ward
And there's a reason why Canelo Alvarez ain't jumping at that fight. He fought Amir Khan, which was, I think, two weight classes lower than him. So the weight thing. Right.
- [23:18]
Stephen A. Smith
At least the weight class.
- [23:20]
Andre Ward
Right.
- [23:21]
Stephen A. Smith
And he fought Charlo. And he fought Charlo.
- [23:24]
Andre Ward
I'm trying to figure out what I'm missing with that. So that. That's a fight. That's a fight that I would really like to see. That that's a dangerous fight for both fighters for different reasons. That's a fight that I would like, and I think that would be an all time great, classic fight that people. The assumption with the general public would be he's 30 pounds heavier than he Has. I think it'd be a great classic fight. As well as Tank, Man, I don't know who I would want to see Tank against right now. Let me ask you the question. What fight would you want?
- [23:53]
Stephen A. Smith
Well, I was going to tell you. I was going to tell you. Crawford versus Charlo for two reasons. Number one, at the junior middleweight spot at 154, right? Because Crawford's fought Errol Spence at 147. He moving up, right? Even though I spoke to Crawford personally. And Canelo's on my list as well, because he convinced me, Stephen A. That's a legacy fight. That's a fight that I want badly. Don't underestimate me. I can beat him. Crawford wants that fight bad. Fair enough. But the reason I bring up Charlo is for two reasons. Number one, Charlo, that's a natural weight at 154, and that's not too far off for Terence Crawford, all right? And number two, Charlo is really, really good friends. The Charlo twins are really good friends with Errol Spencer. And we saw what Terrence Crawford did to him. And we saw that when Crawford dropped Spence, he went over, and the person he was talking shit to in the crowd was Charlo, okay? So I'm looking at that, and I'm like, yeah. And I don't hold against Charlo. The smaller Charlotte, I don't hold against him that he lost to Canelo. You know what? Because two weight classes higher, you moved up to 168. You was going up against him. You hit him, and then the man stalked you from the second round on. I mean, what are you supposed to do? What are you supposed to do, Dre? If you hit a cat, he keep coming like you. Like it was nothing. I mean, what you supposed to do? I mean, you got. You got to keep. So I. I'm not gonna fault it for that, but that's not an excuse he would have against Crawford. So him and Crawford going up against one another is something that I would like to see in terms of Tank. You're absolutely right. The only name that I could come up with is Teofimo Lopez. And let me throw this by you, too. And I said this to Teofimo Lopez's dad, right in front of Teofimo. This is all about two years ago. So I said, sir, respectfully, the manner in which you talk, you're hurting your son's marketability because you got cats that don't want to get in the ring with him because they so annoyed at how much stuff his pops Talks that they said, hell with you. Go fight somebody else.
- [26:00]
Andre Ward
Now.
- [26:00]
Stephen A. Smith
Tia FEMA is a bad boy. You're a bad brother, you know, And I'd like to see him against Tank Davis, but in the same breath, he sort of tailed off a little bit in terms of popularity because people avoided fighting him. And one reason was his knockout power with that right hand. The other was that the father ignored. Ignored the living hell out of them. And they said, hell with you. We ain't doing nothing for you. And I think that was it. That's a good answer.
- [26:26]
Andre Ward
I mean, that's a beautiful answer. And I think. But the fight that I'm hearing that's being talked about right now is Devin Haney. Tia Female Lopez.
- [26:36]
Stephen A. Smith
No, no, I'm very. And by the way, damn, I'm supposed to let you go, but you brought it up. I can't avoid it. I'm so upset with Devin Haney and his pops, I'm going to tell you why. Correct me because you the champion. And see, I learned my lesson for a little, little slight story. You know where I'm going. We were in Vegas when Canelo fought Triple G, and I was arguing that Triple G won, and you and the TWA and the Charlotte Twizz was like, nah, that's not happening. And then I went like this in the middle of my sentence. I was like, wait a minute, champion, champion, champion. I need to shut the hell up and just listen to those dudes, you know what I'm saying? Because I was the only one. I was on the island low. You remember that? But here's the deal, Devin Haney, and you'll appreciate this, you the champion. You 30 and, oh, why the hell did you do what Tank Davis did with. With. With Garcia? Why didn't you have a weight clause in there? Why didn't you have. You know, you couldn't balloon after the weigh in? What you doing betting him a half a million dollars for every pound he comes in overweight? And then he could come in 3 pounds overweight, all right? And you just give. You gives up the one and a half million. But he's bigger, he's stronger, he's fresher. And he came in there and he beat you. You the champion when he fought Javante Davis. Javante Davis had a weight clause in there, you understand? You had to. You had to capitulate to all of that for the fight. Devin Haney, to me, didn't act like a champion during negotiations, and his pops to me was supposed to look out for him as well. And Made sure those stipulations were in there and they didn't do it, Dre. And that hurt Devin Haney and we saw him get beat up in a way we never saw before. And I don't know how he recovers from that, bro. That's where I'm at with it. What say you, man?
- [28:18]
Andre Ward
I, I think he can bounce back. It just won't be easy, though. You know, he's got to take full ownership and be completely honest with himself about what went wrong in that ring. Me personally, if that's my son, I'mma talk to my son and say, hey, baby, we need to, we need to beat him. We need to overcome him. He's got a year suspension. He's getting ready, I think. Rumored to face Manny and Saudi.
- [28:41]
Stephen A. Smith
Correct.
- [28:42]
Andre Ward
So we need to get a tune up fight. But, baby, we need to beat him and overcome him and then we can move on to somebody else. I personally don't like the Ted female fighters. Very, very dangerous. T's on the outside looking in right now. He's famished. He wants another opportunity to be in the limelight because he ain't last year and a half, two years. Why would we give him that? As dangerous as he is, my main focus would be to get back with Ryan Garcia. Because you overcome Ryan Garcia and I know people say, oh, he can never beat Ryan. We need to figure out a way because psychologically, I'm back.
- [29:15]
Stephen A. Smith
Hold on, Dre. I wasn't saying that Devin Haney should fight Tiafimo. I was saying Javante Davis should fight Tfin Haney.
- [29:25]
Andre Ward
That. That's the rumored fight that's being negotiated right now.
- [29:29]
Stephen A. Smith
Got you, got you.
- [29:31]
Andre Ward
That's the fight that I'm hearing. Negotiated. That's my point.
- [29:35]
Stephen A. Smith
The fight is Devin Haney. The fight is Devin Haney, Teofimo Lopez.
- [29:39]
Andre Ward
That's what's being negotiated right now.
- [29:41]
Stephen A. Smith
I, I don't like that for Devin Haney at all. I think that Devin Haney. I don't like that for Devin Haney at all. I don't think he'd beat Teofimo Lopez. I don't think he'll do it. I think Teofimo will beat him.
- [29:52]
Andre Ward
It's a dangerous fight. It's a dangerous fight. Why do we go to him? Let's focus on Ryan. My mission is to get back with Ryan. He takes a tune up, I take a tune up. We gonna correct these wrong and what's gonna. What happened ain't gonna happen again. That's my mission and my focus. If I'M Team A, right?
- [30:08]
Stephen A. Smith
Very last question. If you fought Jake Paul, what would be your prediction?
- [30:14]
Andre Ward
Oh, man, I'm gonna do what I normally do, man. I'm a dissect. I'm a, I'm a, I'm a bully. And. And it's gonna be. It ain't gonna be pretty. You know what I mean? And you know, it's not gonna be pretty. But at the same time, Jake is a big guy. Jake can hit it. And he knows enough in that ring where you can't go in there half step. And if I ever fought Jake Paul, I'm gonna prepare. Like, I need to prepare because I got no room for air. If he pushed me down and they call it a knockdown. Oh, my God. Jake knocked Andre there. Oh, my God. He's a Hall of Famer. So it's a very, very dangerous proposition for me because of who I am in the sport and what I've accomplished. I. I don't have room to slip. But it wouldn't be easy overcoming seven years of inactivity. It wouldn't be easy trying to get the rest off. And it wouldn't be easy for fighting a bigger guy like that and being 40 years old. So he's got the advantages, man. It wouldn't be an easy thing. But, but Stephen A, you can't convince me that I can't figure it out.
- [31:13]
Stephen A. Smith
Please. You can't convince anybody. You can't figure it out. You Andre Ward, bro. You Andre Ward. I bet my money on you. All day, every day. Love you, bro. Appreciate you, man. Man, I'll holla at you soon, man. It's good to talk to you.
- [31:24]
Andre Ward
You take it easy. Foreign.
- [31:32]
Greg Rosenthal
What'S up, everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal, and I'm teaming up with the king of spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs mock drafts to my top 101 free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday. Keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents starting on March 6th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [32:03]
Julius Rippinks
What's up, everyone? Julius Rippinks here along with former NHL player Nate Thompson.
- [32:08]
Andre Ward
We're doing a new podcast together. Here we go.
- [32:11]
Julius Rippinks
The Name Energy Line with Nate and jsb.
- [32:14]
Andre Ward
Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey life. All topics are fair game right?
- [32:19]
Julius Rippinks
Exactly. And you'll never know who will drop by to join us.
- [32:23]
Andre Ward
Julie is pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe.
- [32:28]
Julius Rippinks
Listen to Energy Line with Nate and jsb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.