Andre Ward insists black boxers have been used as “villains” for “many, many years” while citing Floyd Mayweather Jr’s career as an example of the sport’s prejudice.
The former two-weight world champion has discussed his experiences with racism and the current social justice movements occurring around the world, sparked by the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.
And Ward has suggested boxing can contribute to change by addressing its own prejudice and double standards.
“What I’ve seen over the last two and a half weeks or so, I’ve been blessed by a lot of it, it’s been really encouraging, it’s given me a lot of hope, solidarity that I see people standing in and walking in. But some of it has frankly broken my heart,” Ward told ESPN.
“I’m the son of a black mother and a white father, I’ve had to deal with disdain, looks of disgust from blacks and whites. That was my reality growing up. Some of those looks turned into physical altercations with my father because he was not about that. He was not about injustice, racism or divide. He would fight for it.
“From being raised by a man like that and my faith, I hate bias, I hate prejudice and I hate double standards of any kind. It’s my life’s mission to not allow any of that to come out of me and also to fight for it and fight against it.
“For the boxing community, if we want to affect change, we can start here at home. Myself, as well as many other African-American fighters, for many, many years we’ve had to deal with double standards, certain prejudices and certain bias.
“If an African-American fighter is not a villain, if he is not boisterous, if he is not jumping on tables, doing crazy things at press conferences, he’s not worth the price of admission. He’s not worth your streaming buy, or pay-per-view buy. That’s something I detest. I personally have protested this line of thinking.
“When Floyd Mayweather was Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather, nobody paid attention. But all of a sudden when he became the villain, when he became Money Mayweather, now he was worth the price of admission to see him lose.
“This is something that has bothered me, I’ve protested against it. It should not be the case. Now that I have the opportunity to mentor another African-American fighter in Shakur Stevenson, we have these discussions, and I encourage him all the time: ‘If individuals, media, fans or whoever it might be, if they’re asking you to be anything more than yourself, Shakur, they’re asking for way too much.’”
