The Art Of Ward

Fresh off his 2026 International Boxing Hall of Fame induction, Antonio “The Magic Man” Tarver sits down with Andre Ward and takes him from Ivy Lane in Orlando to Canastota: raised by a single mom with three sisters, put in the ring at nine as a punishment at the Boys and Girls Club, and the rock bottom at 18 that ended in drug rehab, where he was telling anyone who’d listen that he was going to the Olympics.

Tarver gets into the stories only he can tell: watching Roy Jones get robbed in Seoul and getting up off the couch to run, captaining the ’96 Olympic team that consisted of a young Floyd Mayweather and Zab Judah, turning pro at 27 with not one promoter or manager calling, fighting four rounds on a jaw broken in two places, and the three-year campaign that ended with “You got any excuses tonight, Roy?” and the punch heard around the world.

Plus the Bernard Hopkins fight he says deserves an asterisk, being Al Haymon’s first fighter alongside Vernon Forrest, playing Mason Dixon in Rocky Balboa, and finally getting his flowers.
0:00 – Welcoming Antonio Tarver, Newly Crowned Hall of Famer0:23 – Induction Weekend & Honoring His Mom and Trainer2:29 – Growing Up in Orlando with a Single Mom6:11 – Starting Boxing at 9 at the Boys & Girls Club7:24 – Leaving Boxing for Other Sports, Moving Out of the Inner City10:26 – Depression, Cocaine, and Hitting Rock Bottom11:41 – Watching Roy Jones Jr. “Robbed” at the 1988 Olympics15:33 – Deciding to Wait for Atlanta 199617:50 – ’96 Team Captain: Mentoring Floyd Mayweather & Zab Judah20:44 – Bronze Medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics22:46 – Turning Pro with No Promoters Calling27:53 – First Loss vs. Eric Harding29:54 – Turning the Tide and Knocking Out Harding with a Broken Jaw33:05 – The Years-Long Campaign to Fight Roy Jones Jr.35:12 – The Infamous Post-Fight Press Conference Callout44:39 – Breaking Down Roy Jones Fight I (2003)48:45 – The Controversial Decision49:31 – Fighting for the Rematch53:18 – Training Camp for the Rematch55:41 – “You Got Any Excuses Tonight, Roy?”56:14 – The Knockout Heard Around the World1:00:45 – Life After the Knockout1:05:47 – Al Haymon and the Business Side of Boxing1:07:20 – The Trilogy Fight in Tampa1:19:15 – The Bernard Hopkins Fight and Feeling Off1:28:16 – Owning His Lane and His Story1:30:38 – Final Lessons and Closing Thoughts
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Jermall Charlo sits down with Andre Ward in Houston for his first real conversation in years, just as his comeback fight on the Tim Tszyu/Errol Spence card in Australia is around the corner. The two-time world champion and one half of Lions Only takes Dre back to the beginning: a two-parent household in H-Town, fighting on the same amateur card as his own father, the ingrown toenail that cost him the 2008 Olympics, and why he turned pro without ever signing a contract with anyone.

Jermall gets into the stories only he can tell: jumping the gate to introduce himself to Al Haymon and the handshake that’s lasted 20 years, the mystery package sent to his room the night before his first world title fight, the divorce that took his kids and nearly took him, and the truth about turning down the Canelo fight in 2023 and watching his twin brother take it instead. Plus the Julian Williams counter he drilled every single day of camp, life as “the other twin,” and why at 36 he’s still in love with boxing.
00:00 Intro – Welcoming Jermall Charlo in Houston01:44 Body at 3602:26 Pushing each other with Jermell03:38 Early years in Houston, family life04:35 Amateur days, fighting on his dad’s card06:03 Twin dynamic – growing up as Jermall & Jermell08:16 From other sports to realizing boxing was “the thing”09:41 Early trainers & the amateur circuit11:35 Twin life, differences inside & outside the ring16:03 Missing the 2008 Olympics – injury & surgery17:21 Turning pro & staying self-made18:33 Meeting Al Haymon23:04 2015 – Winning his first title26:20 AD BREAK27:07 Life as a champion & the start of his faith journey29:55 Divorce, rock bottom & hitting his lowest point34:44 Full surrender – his testimony47:44 Julian Williams fight – the real tension52:03 Life after the win – spending, business side54:14 Two-year layoff & comeback vs. Benavidez55:42 Scouting opponents & in-ring adjustments56:42 The 2023 Canelo opportunity – why he passed it to Jermell1:00:22 Watching his brother take on Canelo1:01:23 Motivation for the Benavidez rematch1:01:55 Identity, legacy & the pressure of “being the lion”1:05:03 What’s next – real estate, ministry, business1:06:53 Closing thoughts & outro
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Andre Ward and Roy Jones Jr. are back with a new edition of HALL OF GAME, and they’re going straight at the fight everybody just watched: Jaron “Boots” Ennis stopping Xander Zayas in the 7th round at Barclays. Boots broke Zayas down to the body, but the Hall of Fame duo don’t see the third round firefight the same way. Roy calls it going to sleep, Dre calls it an exchange, and they go back and forth on whether it’s a real flaw or just the cost of having that much in the bag.

From there it’s the stoppage everyone’s arguing about: should Zayas’ corner have waved it off in the fifth to save him the punishment? Did he quit, or did he show enough? Roy and Dre get into the difference between quitting and getting beat and the mental side of prizefighting.

Then they look ahead: what’s actually next for Boots, chase the Vergil Ortiz fight, or Fundora? Plus shout-outs to Emiliano Vargas, Ben Whittaker, and Jose Valenzuela avenging his loss to Edwin de la Santos.
0:00 Intro0:46 Setting the scene: Zayas vs. Boots at Barclays Center1:36 First reactions: fight, atmosphere, stoppage2:07 Body shots that set up the finish4:01 Round 1 power and the Round 3 wobble7:05 Is Boots’ “defensive lapse” overblown?9:11 Ad break10:31 Zayas’ round 3 strategy debated12:57 Boots’ defense, standards, and grading his own performance18:19 Ward’s “mental letdown” theory22:07 The “bag of stuff” theory & lack of elite competition37:08 Setting up the late rounds38:33 Round 5 knockdown breakdown39:45 Should the corner have stopped it?44:18 Round 7 stoppage and the corner look46:28 Did Zayas quit? The big debate51:18 Where Zayas goes from here53:51 What’s next for Boots Ennis56:56 Shoutouts: Vargas Jr., Whittaker, Valenzuela1:01:16 Roy Jones Jr.’s award shoutout1:01:34 Outro
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Andre Ward and Roy Jones Jr. are back in a new edition of HALL OF GAME, and they’re not holding back. They break down the fight everybody’s talking about, Jaron “Boots” Ennis vs. Xander Zayas on June 27 at Barclays, and Roy makes his pick clear: on paper, Boots is supposed to win, and the only question is whether Zayas can take the punch. Who will come out on top?

First they get into the NBA Finals: how the New York Knicks erased a 29-point Game 4 lead and snatched the title from Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs after 53 years, why Roy says De’Aaron Fox’s turnovers “turned the team off,” and what Wemby still has to prove. Then it’s Bam Rodriguez making history as a three-division champ at 24, the Inoue super-bantamweight fight everybody wants, and Roy’s blunt take on the modern “duck game” and the media that fuels it.

Finally, the Hall of Fame duo talk Errol Spence Jr.‘s comeback fight vs. a tough Tim Tszyu, Errol opening up on THE ART OF WARD, and a message to the haters.
0:00 - Intro: Hall of Game Is Back1:15 - Roy Jones Jr. Catches Us Up: Franklyn Dwomoh, Newman vs. Munguia & Dallas Fight Card2:10 - NY Knicks Win the NBA Championship After 53 Years4:15 - Roy’s Take: De’Aaron Fox’s Turnovers & the Spurs’ Collapse7:34 - The Boxing Parallel: How Leads Slip Away12:08 - Shout Out to Jalen Brunson & the Knicks’ Grit13:54 - AD BREAK14:49 - Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez Becomes 3-Division World Champion16:40 - Can Bam Beat Naoya Inoue? Breaking Down the Styles25:30 - Xander Zayas vs. Jaron “Boots” Ennis | June 27 Preview27:43 - Is This Fight Too Soon for Zayas?30:23 - Breaking Down Boots’ Fight Game & the Weight Class Move36:20 - Winner Gets “The Towering Inferno” — What’s at Stake40:28 - Errol Spence Jr. Is Back! July 25 vs. Tim Tszyu41:48 - Roy’s Coaching Take: What Spence Needs to Rediscover43:27 - Dre’s Interview with Spence: The Crawford Fight, the Camp & the Comeback47:51 - Addressing the 10%: YouTube Critics Calling Spence’s Interview “Excuses”50:32 - Andre & Roy on Biased Media & Fighters Feeding Narratives58:45 - Katie Taylor Sells Out Croke Park (82,000 Tickets in 30 Min!)1:01:16 - Outro
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Errol Spence Jr. pulls up to THE ART OF WARD in Houston, in the middle of training for Tim Tszyu, for one of the most open conversations of his career. The Dallas native and former unified welterweight champion takes Andre all the way back — fighting in the DeSoto streets, a 120-degree gym with no AC, starting boxing late but making the 2012 Olympic team anyway, and the mindset that made him a feared sparring-session legend before he ever turned pro.

Errol gets into the stories only he can tell: the day Floyd Mayweather called him an expletive mid-session and they turned off the bell to keep going, why his father steered him to Al Haymon over a $250K Top Rank signing bonus, the car crash that nearly took everything, the eye injury that cancelled Pacquiao, and the truth about the Crawford camp and the loss that reset his life.
00:00:00 – Intro00:00:19 – Relationship Between Andre & Errol00:02:30 – Training Camp & Working Smarter With Age00:06:03 – Growing Up in DeSoto, Texas00:07:16 – How Errol Got Into Boxing00:09:47 – Amateur Career & Roy Jones Influence00:13:00 – Competitive Mentality & Sparring Intensity00:15:30 – Starting Late & Being Preserved00:18:51 – 2012 Olympics Experience00:20:01 – Turning Pro & Signing With Al Haymon00:28:24 – Financial Wisdom & Life After Boxing00:34:13 – Sparring Floyd Mayweather00:38:58 – Kell Brook Fight in England00:42:52 – Relationship With Jerry Jones & AT&T Stadium Fight00:47:04 – Free Agent on Handshakes Only00:50:29 – Drinking & The Car Accident00:54:13 – The Shawn Porter Fight00:58:51 – Financial Discipline & Living Off Interest01:01:11 – The Car Accident: What He Remembers01:07:25 – Life After the Accident01:10:22 – Reconnecting With God After the Crawford Loss01:15:26 – Being a Present Father01:22:58 – Manny Pacquiao Fight Falling Through & Eye Injury01:29:13 – Making the Crawford Fight Happen01:31:47 – Crawford Camp Issues & Derrick James01:38:41 – The Crawford Fight Night01:44:59 – Life After the Crawford Loss01:52:32 – Why He’s Still Fighting at 3601:57:47 – Closing Thoughts & Appreciation
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