Andre Ward is retiring, the undefeated light heavyweight boxing champion who has won 32 fights in a row and is at the peak of his career announced Thursday.
Ward is considered the pound-for-pound No. 1 boxer in the world and is an Olympic champion from the 2004 Athens Olympics.
The 33-year-old from Oakland, California, said he has lost the desire to fight and that the rigors of the sport were more than he wanted to put up with.
“To retire from the sport and not have the sport retire me, I have that opportunity today,” Ward said on the ESPN show “First Take.” He also explained that the training and preparation had gotten harder over the last two or three years, and that he felt the years of boxing had begun to take their toll on him.
“If I cannot give my family, my team, and the fans everything that I have, then I should no longer be fighting,” Ward said in a statement, ESPN reported.
“As I walk away from the sport of boxing today, I leave at the top of your glorious mountain, which was always my vision and my dream,” the statement continued. Ward also thanked those who helped him during his career.
Ward’s last fight was against Sergey Kovalev in June in Las Vegas, and he won a technical knockout in the eighth round. Kovalev also lost to Ward last November.
Some on Twitter felt Ward was underappreciated and others felt he could have done more in his career.
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