Since his days punching Everlast bags at King’s Boxing Gym in Fruitvale, 27-year-old Hayward native Andre Ward has become something of a local folk hero. His newspaper clippings currently plaster the walls of King’s, where he’s been memorialized both as a “Son of God,” and a brute self-punisher (The middleweight champ used to push his trainer’s car around a parking lot at Cal State Hayward, as Chron sportswriter John Crumpacker wrote in a detailed recounting of Ward’s training regimen for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.). Tonight, Ward will appear on the behind-the-scenes Showtime sports documentary, Fight Camp 360°: Inside the Super Six World Boxing Classic, which traces the days leading up to an epic December 17 fight at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, in which Ward will defend his WBA title against British boxer Carl Froch. For those who like taut drama along with bloodsport, it should be an engaging show. Fight Camp premieres tonight at 10 p.m. EST/PST (delayed on the West Coast).
Here’s a taste of the proceedings:
