Pound for pound king, world titleholder Andre Ward says hes leaving boxing. Pound for pound king and unified light heavyweight world titleholder Andre Ward said in a statement on his website that he is leaving boxing. I want to be clear I am leaving because my body can no longer put up with the rigors of the sport and therefore my desire to fight is no longer there, the statement said. If I cannot give my family, my team, and the fans everything that I have, then I should no longer be fighting. On Thursday, the 3. Ward 3. 2 0, 1. KOs told First Take more about the thought process behind his decision to retire. People see what I do fight night, he said. They see under the lights, but they dont see the toil, they dont see the grind, they dont see just the pain, the physical pain that you go through, not just in the fights, but to prepare and to get ready for those battles. He added I felt the physicality of the sport not just in the ring stuff, but the training and the preparation start to take its toll on me for the last two or three years, and I bit down and continued to push through. Best History Books In Urdu Pdf. And at this point, its time, and I know its time. I want to be clear I am leaving because my body can no longer put up with the rigors of the sport and therefore my desire to fight is no longer there, Andre Ward said in a statement. John LocherAPLast month, Ward told ringside media that his television contract with HBO was up. The Boxing KingsHe also said that, contrary to industry chatter, he remains under contract with promoter Roc Nation Sports, even though rumors have swirled that he was gearing for a jump to Top Rank. Ward has been with HBO since he knocked out Chad Dawson in 2. Ward has had two long layoffs since because of promotional issues. Ward fought six of his last seven fights for HBO, including both of his pay per view fights with Sergey Kovalev a controversial unanimous decision win in November to take Kovalevs three 1. Footballs not back until the fans are brawling, and thankfully, we didnt have to wait long. The Eagles defeated Washington today, but some hotblooded Skins. The Boxing King Tvb OnlineJune 1. Andre Ward ends his boxing career as he only knew how to live it as a champion at the top, Peter Nelson, executive vice president of HBO Sports, said in a statement. To watch Ward was to marvel at constant mastery of craft in the ring, to say nothing of his being the consummate role model outside it. The Hall of Fame will be lucky to have him. We wish Andre and his family much success and happiness as he explores new opportunities, including with our own HBO family as one of the expert analysts on our broadcast team. It was a privilege for HBO to serve as the television platform for many of his landmark achievements in the sport he loves. Even if his career ends sooner than anyone expected, Ward is a certain first ballot Hall of Fame fighter. Ward won an Olympic medal at the 2. Athens Games the last American man to win Olympic gold in boxing and quickly rose up the pro ranks. In 2. 00. 9, Dan Goossen, the late promoter with whom Ward battled over his contract and lost multiple times, secured him a place in Showtimes Super Six World Boxing Classic, a modified round robin tournament that included six of the worlds elite 1. Given little chance to win the tournament, Ward ran the table in dominant fashion. In front of a hometown crowd in Oakland, California, Ward easily defeated tournament favorite Mikkel Kessler by 1. Lopsided victories against Allan Green, Sakio Bika in a non tournament bout and Arthur Abraham followed before he easily outpointed Carl Froch in the December 2. Nine months later, Ward returned for another huge victory. Making the move to HBO, Ward faced Dawson, the light heavyweight champion at the time, who agreed to drop down to super middleweight to challenge Ward for his title. Ward issued a beating and knocked Dawson out in the 1. More promotional battles with Goossen followed that kept Ward out of the ring, but when Goossen died in late 2. Ward reached a settlement on the contract, allowing Ward to sign with Jay Zs Roc Nation Sports. Ward reeled off three wins in a 1. Paul Smith, Sullivan Barrera and Alexander Brand all easily to set the stage for the long awaited first pay per view showdown with Kovalev. After the second fight with Kovalev, Ward said his contract with HBO had expired. Muay-Thai-Boxing.jpg' alt='The Boxing King Tvb' title='The Boxing King Tvb' />However, Ward and HBO eventually negotiated a new deal. Sources with knowledge of the discussions told ESPNs Dan Rafael it was a four fight deal under which some of the bouts would be at cruiserweight as well as heavyweight. A news conference to announce the deal was being planned to take place on Sept. Carson, California, where Ward worked as an analyst for that nights HBO card headlined by the rematch between junior bantamweight titlist Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Roman Chocolatito Gonzalez. However, the news conference, which had never been officially scheduled, was canceled. Ward was having second thoughts about the new contract because he didnt want to commit to that many fights, the sources told Rafael. Two weeks later, Ward retired. While he wont be inside the ring, Ward plans to continue his career as a broadcaster. He was ringside as an analyst on ESPN for the Aug. Terence Crawford and Julius Indongo. Ward also will continue to call fights for HBO. Provider of boxing interviews, rumors, results, schedules and a directory of links. Kovalev said Wards retirement will be good for boxing because it will allow good and strong fighters to compete for the vacated titles. He also said through his Main Events promoter that he doesnt concern himself with the possibility that Wards retirement wont stick. I dont think about him at all because Im looking forward to reaching my goals, Kovalev said, adding that his last two fights are history and I forgot it already. ESPNs Dan Rafael and The Associated Press contributed to this report.