Ward Is Talking Like an Old Pro

Andre Ward hopes his journey through the ranks of professional boxing takes him to the bright lights of Las Vegas, where titles are won and fortunes are made. But for tonight, he’ll have to settle for Lemoore, Calif., a town of about 21,000 that is 33 miles south of Fresno.

No matter, because Ward travels a road paved with gold, bringing along his own glitter.

Sure enough, when the 2004 Olympic gold medal winner in the 178-pound division enters the ring tonight for the second time as a professional, in the semi-main event at the Palace Indian Gaming Center, the cameras of Fox Sports Net will record the event for a national audience.

Ward, the first American to win Olympic gold in eight years, faces Kenny Kost (8-0, five knockouts) of White Bear Lake, Minn. Ward won his pro debut in December with a second-round technical knockout over Christopher Molina in Staples Center.

Ward, who remained humble throughout the Olympics, is starting to sound like a trash-talking pro. Told that Kost has been predicting a knockout win, the Oakland fighter responded by saying, “I haven’t been looking forward to whipping a man so bad in a long time.”

Few outside the Kost camp expect anything less. Although the Minnesota fighter is unbeaten, three of his opponents were making their professional debuts, and a fourth had been 0-1.

Ward is fighting his second unbeaten opponent in as many fights and has moved up from a four-rounder to tonight’s six-rounder, a match in which the contract weight is 166 pounds.

“With the type of seasoning we are giving him,” said Dan Goossen, Ward’s co-promoter along with Roy Jones, “by this time next year, everyone will see his greatness.”

Ward, who turns 21 in two weeks, won Olympic gold in front of a worldwide audience and his pro debut was shown on HBO.

“We feel his stature will be up to that of Oscar De La Hoya [Olympic gold-medal winner in 1992] in no time because of the exposure he’s getting,” Goossen said.

The main event tonight is a title match between World Boxing Council super-bantamweight champion Oscar Larios (54-3-1, 35) and former WBC bantamweight champion Wayne McCullough (27-4, 18).