Ward vs Dawson Blog: Andre Ward, Last American Gold Medal Boxer, Discusses Olympic Glory

Andre Ward vs Chad Dawson (HBO)

Sep 8, 2012 10:00 PM EDT
Oracle Arena - Oakland, CA

On September 8 live on HBO from the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., Andre Ward will defend his super middleweight crown against current top light heavyweight Chad Dawson, in a meeting of top American fighters. Eight years ago, Ward was the last American to win gold at the Olympic games in boxing. The dry streak extended today, when Team USA's Errol Spence was eliminated in London as the final American boxer remaining. Here's Ward on what his Olympic experience was like.

Discuss what it was like competing in the Olympics and how it feels to be the last U.S. boxer to win a gold medal.

"Competing in the 2004 Olympics and winning a gold medal was one of the highlights of my life and boxing career for a lot of reasons. To have the chance to represent my country, back in 2004 in the first Olympic Games after 9/11, with the U.S. was at war was extremely special. This was a goal that I had for myself and I had worked toward for 10 years. Then, it was just for the love of the sport, it had nothing to do with money; it had nothing to do with fame. It was about representing your country. From that standpoint, everything was pure. No professional experience that I ever have will supersede winning at the Olympics.

"The Olympic Games shaped me and gave me confidence. It gave me the attitude to know that I belong at the highest level. It strengthened my faith in God, because it was something that was placed on my heart as a young kid that I could win. I went through ups and downs but my Father and Virgil helped me to stay focused through all of that. To accomplish a goal that big was surreal, standing on that podium and hearing the national anthem play for me was surreal and was something that will always have a special place in my heart.

"Aside from winning the gold medal, going to the Opening Ceremony is something that did a lot for me. I wasn't initially supposed to be there, because I thought I was going to have to fight the next day but I found out just before that I got a bye and could go. Outside of winning gold and standing on the podium, the Opening Ceremony was the highlight of my Olympics. Even before winning, the Opening Ceremony jumps out in my mind about the 2004 games. It really solidified that I was at the Olympics, that it was real. I had never really had a feeling like I did walking into that stadium with hundreds of top athletes from the United States, that night to kick off the 2004 Games. I had goose bumps; I had chills; I thought about my father. I thought about everything that it took to get there. It was an unbelievable feeling and an unbelievable experience and it catapulted me into my first fight and really helped me out."

Ward vs. Dawson takes place Saturday, Sept. 8 live on HBO World Championship Boxing beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT.

Ward vs Dawson Blog: Chad Dawson on Past Mistakes, Current Team

Chad Dawson faces Andre Ward this Saturday on HBO.

Discuss your best and worst memory as a fighter, and which wins -- amateur or professional -- have been the most satisfying or memorable?

Chad Dawson: "As a fighter, you always strive to be the best, so when I suffered my first loss to Jean Pascal, it was a very disappointing moment in my life, and by far the worst memory of my boxing career. When I saw Pascal's hand raised after the fight, the feeling in my mind, body and soul was demoralizing. I knew I had to get back in the gym and prove to the world that I had an off night, and work my way to get back on top. I learned a lot about myself and the people around me after that loss. I realized that I had group surrounding me that were in my circle for all the wrong reasons, not looking out for my best interest, which affected my mindset for the worse. Those days are behind me now and I have people in my corner that really care about me. The team I have in place now is tremendous. I consider them my family and our goal is to be the best team in boxing and show the world the Team Dawson is a force. Together we can't be stopped, I really believe that.

"When I won my first world title against Tomasz Adamek, who was undefeated at the time, it was an incredible feeling, because I accomplished my childhood dream of becoming a world champion. That win was so gratifying to me, because my dad had always told me that I could become a world champion some day and I finally made it happen for both of us. I can't describe the feeling I had when I saw the look on my father's face after that belt was strapped around my waist. No doubt, it was the most fulfilling moment of my boxing career. I realized then that I had the talent to become one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world.

"Taking this fight with Andre Ward in his backyard, coming down to his weight class, fighting for his world title, is proof that I'm a throwback fighter that doesn't care about the situation. I'm willing to fight the best on any given day and that's what boxing is all about. On September 8th, in Oakland, California, where the crowd will be rooting against me, you're going to see a true warrior put it all on the line and bring home that world title, and that warrior is me. I will be victorious on fight night."

Ward vs. Dawson takes place Saturday, Sept. 8 live on HBO World Championship Boxing beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT.

Ward vs Dawson, Klitschko vs Charr, Adamek, Matthysse vs Olusegun, More: Boxing TV Schedule For Sept. 7-8

Andre Ward vs Chad Dawson leads a busy boxing weekend. (Photo by Alexis Cuarezma - Goossen Tutor)

Friday, September 7

Fox Sports (Australia), 8:00 a.m. EDT, Solomon Haumono vs Franklin Egobi, Daniel Ammann vs Pieter Cronje.

BoxNation (UK), 2:30 p.m. EDT, BoxAcademy - Tony Conquest vs Ian Tims.

Sport1 (Germany), 4:15 p.m. EDT, Francesco Pianeta vs Frans Botha, Christina Hammer vs Yahaira Hernandez.


Saturday, September 8



Wealth TV, 3:00 p.m. EDT, Tomasz Adamek vs Travis Walker, Bryant Jennings vs Chris Koval, Steve Cunningham vs Jason Gavern. You might have forgotten that this card was happening. I did, actually. But it is, it's happening, and whatever. Every fight is designed for Side One to win pretty easily, and eventually Main Events will want to put all these guys into fights with each other, or at least a couple of them, and the beauty is that you could do, say, Adamek-Cunningham II, and if Cunningham lost that fight, he could still fight Jennings and give him the rub, in theory.



Sky Sports (UK), 3:30 p.m. EDT, Tony Bellew vs Edison Miranda, Lee Purdy vs Gumersindo Carrasco. Bellew vs Miranda could be a solid fight, and it's kind of a trap fight for Bellew, or could be. If he wins, it's not that big of a deal in reality -- though I'm sure the Sky team have hyped this as World Class Miranda taking on the local hero and all that crap -- because Miranda is not a light heavyweight, first of all, and isn't all that good anyway. But if he loses or even struggles with the gatekeeper, it looks bad for him going forward.



RTL (Germany) / HBO (US, Tape Delay), 4:00 p.m. EDT, Vitali Klitschko vs Manuel Charr. HBO will be airing this as part of their card on Saturday night, which I'm hoping they put on last on TV because it's a junk matchup and I think they've only bought the fight because someone got excited about airing that fluffernutter documentary, Klitschko. I don't know if Epix's plan to take over the world with largely mediocre heavyweight fights has been shot down -- maybe that's why HBO picked this up. To take down Epix and their Roku subscribers. The undercard to this is a hunk o' junk. We're going to do live coverage because it's the afternoon card that matters most, since Vitali Klitschko matters, so don't be all thinking you can "avoid spoilers" here on Saturday. You cannot. Bad Left Hook has live round-by-round coverage.

TyC Sports (Argentina), 8:00 p.m. EDT, Fernanda Alegre vs Darys Pardo.


Showtime, 9:00 p.m. EDT, Lucas Matthysse vs Ajose Olusegun. This was supposed to be the Alexander vs Bailey show, but Bailey got hurt and that's off. This is the better fight and all, but it's impossible to argue that the card didn't lose a lot of its value when that went down. J'Leon Love and Daquan Arnett and Ishe Smith are on the undercard, and I think it's Love who will get the TV spot. Bad Left Hook will have live round-by-round coverage.



HBO (US) / Sky Sports (UK) / Space (Mexico), 9:45 p.m. EDT, Andre Ward vs Chad Dawson, Antonio DeMarco vs John Molina. Well, it's here. We'll have more on this fight in the coming days, of course, and it's worth noting that DeMarco-Molina should be a good fight, and while DeMarco is certainly the favorite, he's not a world-beater, and it could wind up more competitive than expected, too. Bad Left Hook will have live round-by-round coverage.

FSN / FSN Deportes, 10:00 p.m. EDT, Luis Ramos Jr vs Noe Bolanos, Deontay Wilder vs Damon McCreary. This week's promotional gimmick: Deontay Wilder Is The World's Busiest Heavyweight.

TV Azteca (Mexico), 10:30 p.m. EDT, Daniel Rosas vs Julio Cesar Miranda. Rosas, 22, takes a step up a bit against former flyweight titlist Pingo Miranda, who is coming off of a loss to Rodel Mayol.

Telefutura, 11:00 p.m. EDT, Ivan Morales vs Luis Maldonado. Morales, 20, is Erik's younger brother, and recently signed a deal with Golden Boy. Maldonado, 34, is washed-up but is the right sort of step for the kid at this point.



Televisa (Mexico), 11:30 p.m. EDT, Marco Antonio Rubio vs Carlos Baldomir.