I’m going to put on a show
Long flagged as a future superstar, Joe Ward seeks to grab the spotlight again with his first pro fight in Ireland
JOE WARD wants to come home. In quieter moments during training camp in New York, the powerful southpaw visualises walking towards a ring in Athlone Town’s football stadium in Lissywollen, perhaps even with a belt around his waist.
‘I don’t think it’s ever been done before, a card in Athlone, or even Westmeath, so it would be nice to do it, create a bit of history. To come home and headline in the town I grew up in, went to school in,’ Ward reflects.
He does have a homecoming of sorts later this month when his first professional bout on Irish soil will headline the Rumble in the Hills card in Letterkenny. And he’s excited by the prospect.
‘It was always my dream to come back and fight in Ireland, make my homecoming here. Ireland has been where it has all happened from me, winning 15 national titles and I have never been beaten in the ring on Irish soil, so I want to keep that record intact,’ Ward insists.
Last week, Ward hit the landmark of his 30th birthday, which can be difficult to believe for anyone who remembers the raw, skilled teenager who burst on the scene back in 2011 by completely overwhelming Kenneth Egan in the national stadium. On that cold winter’s night, it felt like Ward was destined for stardom.
He brought three European gold medals back to Ireland in 2011, 2015 and 2017. He was denied a four-in-a-row by a bad knee injury during the 2013 championships. He also claimed two world silver medals and a bronze with the gifted Cuban Julio Cesar La Cruz the only light-heavyweight on the planet who could get the better of Ward.
However, his Olympic dream would end in disappointment. He didn’t even qualify for London in 2012, being the victim of some questionable judging in the final qualification tournament. Four years later, he was in Rio but allowed himself to get in a messy grappling contest with Ecuador’s Carlos Mina and was eliminated when he was one of the favourites for some sort of medal.
The Irish Amateur Boxing Association were keen for Ward to remain with the High Performance squad and rectify things in Tokyo but despite winning a third European title in 2017, the accusations of corruption that were tainting amateur boxing helped convince him to go into the professional ranks.
It hasn’t been plain sailing as a professional. Having signed with Time Square Boxing and Lou DiBella, Ward’s pro debut came at Madison Square Garden four years ago on the undercard of Gennady Golokvin’s showdown with Sergiy Derevianchenko.
However, he dislocated his kneecap during his bout with Marco Delgado – remarkably, the same injury that derailed him in the 2013 European Championships – and his opponent was awarded with the win. It meant that his pro career got off to a false start which was only magnified as Covid shut the world down a few months later.
‘I had just turned professional and I got an opportunity to fight in Madison Square Garden. You don’t have to think twice about that, making your debut in the Garden. And everything was going great in the lead-up to the fight, everything was going to plan. I went into Madison Square Garden, ready to go and then this freak injury happened.
‘At the time, it was devastating and you wonder if you ever get back. But looking back on it now, if a setback like that was going to happen, that was probably the best time for it, because I was able to get it fixed and move on. Since then, I’ve never had any problems with my knee, thank God, and have been able to move on.’
Following an arduous rehabilitation programme, it took Ward more than a year to get back into the ring as the world came to grips with the pandemic.
However, he made up for lost time and had two bouts within three weeks in Mexico in December 2020 against local light-heavyweights, both of which Ward’s power ended before the end of the first round.
The following March in Puerto Rico, he had a chance to avenge that defeat by Delgado, completely out-boxing him over six rounds. Ward and his management tried unsuccessfully to get his debut ruled a no-contest but New York State Athletic commission recorded it as a defeat. It still rankles that a freak knee injury has robbed him of a perfect record.
He’s been back in the Garden three times since his pro debut and won all three bouts comfortably. Even though he has only had 10 pro fights, and has yet to fight more than eight rounds, the box rec website have him ranked in the top 30 light-heavyweights in the world.
There are a number of top British fighters in Ward’s weight class – Rio bronze medalist Joshua Busati as well as Dan Azeez, Lyndon Arthur and Anthony Yarde. The Irish man is keen to use them as a stepping stone to eventually get a world title shot against either Russia’s Dmitri Bivol or Canada’s Artur Beterbiev.
‘That is where I want to be, fighting these big domestic fights. I have been in with these guys in training and sparring and I know what they are like, but I also know what I need to do to go all the way,’ Ward says. ‘It is about building momentum and putting myself in a position so these fights have to happen.
‘It’s great to have this opportunity to come back to Ireland, to fight back in Europe. All my fights have been on the far side of the pond, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Canada, the States. You can fly under the radar pretty quickly when you are fighting over there. ‘But I have put in the groundwork and now it’s time to come back over here and stamp my authority and look for those big fights in Europe – Azeez, Busati, Arthurs, Yarde – because I believe I am better than each and every one of them, but I just need the right fights to show it.’
Ward is facing Ghana’s Prince Oko Nartey in Letterkenny’s Aura Complex in a fortnight’s time. Nartey comes with a decent record of 11 wins and one defeat, but the former African middleweight champion has never fought outside his native Ghana.
The bout headlines a show that also includes rising Belfast lightweight James McGivern (7-0), the Walsh brothers Liam and Paddy, Dubliner Craig O’Brien (13-3) and super-middleweight Danny Boyle who will be fighting in his native county.
More than anything, it will give Irish fight fans a chance to assess where Ward currently stands. It’s the first professional card in Donegal for more than 14 years, since Paul McCloskey, then rising through the light-welterweight ranks, headlined a show in the Clanree Hotel. They are more highprofile shows around this island in the coming weeks, but the presence of Ward makes this one of the more interesting.
And he insists that Donegal will see him in peak condition.
‘Mentally and physically, I am in the best shape ever and ready to go to the next level. Now is the time to push on. The older I get, the better I get. I am going to put on a show.’
Those who came to Letterkenny all those years ago to watch McCloskey saw a fighter on the journey to becoming European light-welterweight champion. They might get to see Ward at a similar stage of his own professional journey, but this time, it might lead to even greater glory.
Rumble in the Hills will take place at Letterkenny’s Aura Leisure Complex on November 18.
Mentally and physically, I’m in the best shape ever and ready to go
I have put in the groundwork, now it’s that time to stamp my authority