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When Andre Ward addresses local youth at two juvenile detention centers in California on Wednesday, the 25-year-old boxer will have a strong message to convey.Two years before he won an Olympic gold medal in 2004, Ward endured the death of his father, for whom his trainer, Virgil Hunter, stepped in and became a male role model.
For that reason, among others, Ward knows that his words will carry plenty of meaning.
"Many young people struggle with several issues that we can't begin to imagine," said Ward, a deeply religious fighter whose father was white, and his mother, African American. "They need all of us, and we can't give up on them. We have to care for them, motivate and inspire them to dream again."
Ward will speak at more than 125 kids at the Santa Clara County Juvenile Detention Center in San Jose, Calif., followed by about 90 more the William F. James Ranch in Morgan Hill, Calif.
The appearance is in conjunction with Knock Out Dog Fighting 501, a charity Ward has partnered with in an effort to abolish dog fighting and animal abuse.
"It's important that we reach out and embrace our youth in order to help them discover the greatness that lies within each of them," said Ward.
Ward (21-0, 13 knockouts) is coming off of a Nov. 21, unanimous, 11-round technical decision victory over Denmark's 30- year-old Mikkel Kessler (42-2, 32 KOs), which earned him the WBA's super world super middlweight (168 pounds) championship before Ward's hometown crowd of 10, 277 at Oracle Arena, in Oakland, Calif.
Ward was the underdog against Kessler, who had more than twice as many fights and victories, more than three times as many knockouts, and who won his first world title nearly a month before even Ward began his professional career.
Ward is slated to meet 31-year-old, former undisputed middleweight (168 pounds) champion, Jermain Taylor (28-4-1, 17 KOs) on April 17 in the second round of Showtime's Super Six Middleweight World Boxing Classic.
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