ANYONE who didn’t know boxing would never guess that Steven Ward earned a living by punching people in the face.
His ring sobriquet ‘The Quiet Man’ is absolutely accurate because the soft-spoken light-heavyweight comes across as polite and laid-back without a trace of the silent menace he has hinted at in his four professional fights so far.
“The only people who say I’m a nice guy are the ones I owe money to,” he says with a laugh.
“But I suppose that’s where my name ‘The Quiet Man’ comes from - people outside boxing always say ‘you’d wouldn’t know you were a boxer’.
“It’s just the way my mother and father brought me up, I’m laid back and it takes a lot to get me stressed out.
“I’m not into trash-talking and calling people out, people say I might be boring by not doing it but it’s not me.
“But once I get in there I have a job to do and it’s just a switch that goes on and you change, it just happens over a few days before a fight.
“I go away for a camp and the last few days when I come home I stay in my mother and fathers’ house away from my family. I let the hunger build up for it and I’m looking forward to it all.”
So far he is 4-0 in the pros and recorded his first stoppage win last time out when he hammered out-gunned Istvan Orsos into submission at the Waterfront Hall in June.
Tomorrow night he switches across the Lagan to the SSE Arena to face Josip Perkovic (4-2-1) and of course he intends to shine on the undercard of Frampton versus Guttierez.
“There’s no more pressure than any other fight,” says the former Monkstown ABC star.
“I just feel it’s a better opportunity for me to perform and do the same thing I always do just in front of more people. Hopefully I’ll do everyone proud.
“The guy (Perkovic) has a winning record.
“He’s got a couple of good wins against good quality opposition. It should be a good test for me.”
Ward was cheered into the ring at Wednesday’s open workout at Victoria Square. The hundreds who turned out for a glimpse of him, Poddy McCrory, Conrad Cummings, Paddy Gallagher and of course Frampton were an indicator of another memorable Belfast fight night tomorrow.
“It’s massive and every Tom, Dick and Harry’s going,” said Ward, a silver medal winner at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
“Everyone is going, it’s amazing to be a part of it and I can’t wait.”
