Andre "SOG" Ward
Born: Feb. 23, 1984
Bouts: 32
Won: 32
Lost: 0
KOs: 16
Induction: 2021
Born Andre Michael Ward on February 23, 1984 in San Francisco, CA.
Fighting out of nearby Oakland, Ward followed his father’s footsteps into the ring and authored an impressive amateur career (115-5) that culminated with light heavyweight Olympic gold at the 2004 Games in Athens. He turned pro later that year and began a steady march to the top of the 168-pound division with wins over Jerson Ravelo (TKO 8), Henry Buchanan (W 12) and Edison Miranda (W 12). In 2009 he entered the Super Six World Boxing Classic super middleweight tournament and won the WBA title in his first bout against Mikkel Kessler (TW 11). Ward retained the belt three times with wins over Allan Green (W 12), Sakio Bika (W 12) and Arthur Abraham (W 12) before defeating Carl Froch (W 12) in 2011 for the WBC belt in the tournament finals. He defended the WBC / WBA titles against Chad Dawson (TKO 10) and the WBA belt against Edwin Rodriguez (W 12). “S.O.G.” next set his sights on the 175-pound division and defeated Sergey Kovalev (W 12) for the WBA, IBF and WBO light heavyweight titles in 2016. He defeated Kovalev in the return bout the next year via 8th round TKO. Following the rematch, Ward, who was trained throughout his career by Virgil Hunter, announced his retirement from the ring with an undefeated pro record of 32-0 (16 KOs).
Renowned for his impeccable fundamental skills and ring intuition, Ward remains active in the sport as ringside commentator – first for HBO World Championship Boxing and now for ESPN - as well as acting in two installments of the Rocky film series - Creed and Creed II.