By Patrick Connor  

In 23 years of fighting, Andre Ward has come a long way. He started fighting as a child and grew up a fighter, reaching several milestones that few could even dream of. This weekend Ward squares off against Colombian puncher Alexander Brand on HBO--just another day of work in a career full of them. 

It's fitting that Ward would have a fight scheduled on the same day that boxing makes its 25th showing in the Summer Olympics. Even if he had wanted to escape the expectations that inevitably stem from Olympic success, his 2004 gold medal is an essential part of his narrative now, and it symbolizes Ward's stubborn mastery of his craft. 

That mastery hasn't been enough to build a loyal following in the U.S., however; despite his current status as one of the best fighters in boxing and despite his accomplishments, Olympic and otherwise, Ward still hasn't won over many stubborn boxing fans. It could be his cerebral, resourceful style, and it could be a seemingly pretentious temperament, but Ward's inability to captivate audiences holds him back as a drawing card and prevents him from getting the credit he feels he deserves.  

"I don't owe any explanations for anyone I'm fighting," Ward told the Los Angeles Times last year. "I do feel at times like I'm always proving myself. But I also feel that I'm proven."  

Ward's confidence and the pride he takes in his accomplishments are easily interpreted by boxing fans and pundits as entitlement -- something that isn't easily tolerated in today's sport. Boxing is very much about what a fighter has recently achieved, and things that happened years ago must be honestly transcendental in order to be worth anything now. Fair or not, Ward is widely considered difficult to negotiate with, and it may be because he is perfectly content with what he's already done. 

Thus the issue of Ward's persistent inactivity hurts his career. This year will be the first time since 2011 that Ward has fought more than once in a calendar year, and the level of his opposition has dipped considerably in his last few fights. In the five years since his biggest accomplishment as a professional -- winning Showtime's Super Six tournament -- other fighters like Sergey Kovalev and Gennady Golovkin have not only made significant moves in the sport, but they shifted HBO's attention away from the former super middleweight champion as he settled into a commentating role. 

Ward almost tangled with Golovkin last year, though the fight, which would have been a major attraction, never materialized. But assuming Ward gets by Brand, we may get something even better in its place.  A likely November showdown with Kovalev, the light heavyweight division's unified champion and bogeyman, provides boxing fans with a highly competitive match up and could neutralize much of the criticism that Ward hasn't been able to get away from. Provided there's at least some kind of ambitious showing, it's the kind of dangerous fight that absolves fighters of recent sins and it would end a very disappointing year of boxing with a bang the sport could very much use right now. 

As always, upcoming opponents can't be overlooked, and Ward himself has admitted that if he can't perform well against Brand, he doesn't deserve a shot at Kovalev. But even if there is something potentially dangerous about his herky-jerky, unorthodox style, Brand often holds his hands low and flails wildly enough that he regularly peels himself off the canvas in his televised fights, and all because he can't help but fall all over himself in his zealous attempts to simply land punches. He's a fighter that Ward should be able to quickly tame before outclassing. 

The only thing potentially standing in the way of Kovalev-Ward, then, is the possibility that something on Ward's end could delay the fight. Injuries have been responsible for at least some of the slow patches in Ward's career and getting through the Brand fight unharmed could prove a challenge. Beyond that, Ward's reputation for being difficult doesn't bring much comfort to cynics. 

Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events, Kovalev's promoter, says that as long as everything goes according to plan, there's nothing to worry about.

"It's no different from any other fight [in that] the deal's made, we're ready to go and there are some contingencies that have to happen," Duva told FloBoxing. "Hopefully [Kovalev and Ward] both come out from their fights victorious and unscathed, and if that happens, we'll be promoting their fight so fast it'll make your head spin." 

If the fight does indeed come off, Kovalev is a huge obstacle in the way of Ward's matter-of-fact greatness. The gold medalist will presumably be fighting outside of California for only the second time in his last 15 bouts, and he'll be at disadvantage in size and punching power. But he would be representing a time, now long gone apparently, when Olympic gold medalists were expected to do well as professionals. Ward is a 32-year-old relic, in that regard, but he's a relic with a job to do. 

As hope for U.S. Boxing in the Olympics this year dwindles to perhaps an all-time low, Andre Ward, the last American man to win gold in boxing, is a model of what the gold medal path can lead to. The rest of Ward's journey awaits, and it begins with Brand.