He was the last male American boxer to capture an Olympic gold medal in 2004 at an Athens. Despite the arena rooting against him, he snagged the gold. We are talking about Andre Ward. Coming from a city where drugs pervaded his family and his friends, Ward chose the life of a fighter and even after his Olympic win, he chose to do things his way. He once fought under a small tent at the Morongo Resort Casino in Cabazon, Calif. This was after his Olympic win.
He competed from 2004 to 2017 and retired with an undefeated record, 32-0. During his time as an active boxer, he held multiple world titles in two weight classes. This included the unified WBA (Super), WBC, Ring magazine, and Lineal super middleweight titles between 2009 and 2015 and so much more. This was all possible because of his excellent technical skills, versatility, and defensive prowess. Impressively, he then went on to unify the WBA, IBF, and WBO light heavyweight titles as well, making him a one-of-a-kind boxer from the last generation.
His career highlights included winning the Super Six World Boxing Classic in 2011, where he defeated elite-level opponents like Mikkel Kessler and Carl Froch. In 2016, he moved to the light heavyweight division when he defeated Sergey Kovalev twice. No doubt, back in June 2021, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame alongside boxing legends Wladimir Klitschko and Floyd Mayweather in the men’s Modern category. And yesterday, he took to X to reflect on this achievement:
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“I’ve been waiting for this call for most of my life. It finally came. I’m a first ballot Hall of Famer. God has been good to me. I can finally rest now. This chapter of my life is complete. – Andre Ward,” his post read.
“I’ve been waiting for this call for most of my life. It finally came. I’m a first ballot Hall of Famer. God has been good to me. I can finally rest now. This chapter of my life is complete.”
– Andre Ward
— Andre S.O.G. Ward (@andreward) October 19, 2024
However, his X post caused a bit of confusion as he already achieved it in 2021. And then there were a few clueless people who congratulated him, including Caleb Plant. Unbeknownst to the reality of the situation, Former IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant shared his well wishes. “Congratulations @andreward mission complete,” Plant wrote.
As of the time of writing this article, Plant hadn’t corrected his mistake. Or maybe he was just making up for not congratulating Ward the first time around.
What’s your perspective on:
Does Andre Ward's Hall of Fame mix-up show how disconnected fans are from boxing history?
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Andre Ward fooled others, too!
Meanwhile, journalist and reporter Cynthia Conte was also fooled by Ward’s tweet. “Congratulations, Andre 🙏🏽,” she wrote. Interestingly, Ward was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the first year of his eligibility, so it’s a huge mess for the people actually congratulating Ward. Perhaps he was just quoting himself on X.
While others failed to recognize what had happened, one user shared their confusion: “Which hall of fame [are] you talking about, bro? You [were] already inducted into the boxing hall of fame a few years ago. I was there in Canastota when you were inducted LOL…”
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Apart from the International Boxing Hall of Fame, he has also been inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame. This was back in 2023.
- “Why is Andre quoting himself here? Feel like I’m missing something.”
- “🫡💪🏾 thank you for the many years of entertainment. And to put in for our City too, you a legend in the Boxing world and the Bay.”
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Interestingly, the Bay Area was the boxing capital of the world a century ago and produced the biggest boxing event. But World War I changed that. “It wasn’t just a hub of boxing. It was THE hub of boxing,” once said boxing historian Bert Sugar about the San Francisco Bay Area.
But coming back to Andre Ward, why do you think he quoted himself on X? Let us know in the comments below.
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Does Andre Ward's Hall of Fame mix-up show how disconnected fans are from boxing history?