OAKLAND -- Local boxer Andre Ward's Olympic debut Thursday was a big deal in Oakland, and nowhere was it a bigger deal than at King's Boxing Gym, where Ward learned his sport.
Fighters whacking heavy bags and sweating hard at the Fruitvale district gym Thursday afternoon had already heard that Ward won his first fight, even though the bout was not televised until later in the day.
Ward "is in the land of the gods right now," said Jose Grace, 31, an incredibly fit and heavily tattooed middleweight who has "Jah Rasta" inked across his stomach.
"This is the Olympics," Grace said. "He's like Theseus right now and should be honored as such. Straight up."
For those who don't know, Theseus is the hero from Greek myths who defeated the Minotaur and supposedly invented modern wrestling.
Ward, undefeated for the last six years, won his fight Thursday by outpointing Italy's Clemente Russo, the 2000 European champ, 17 to 9.
Ward has to win three more fights to bring home a gold medal. He would be the first Oakland native to win a gold medal in 36 years.
Grace said he sparred with Ward a few years ago when both fighters were training for tournaments. He described the sparring sessions as "good work."
Another aspiring boxer, 16-year-old Francisco Del Toro, lifted weights at King's Gym with a group of friends Thursday.
Ward is "showing that everybody out here can make it," Del Toro said. "You just got to keep trying."
Charles King, owner of King's Boxing Gym, said he's never seen anybody as quick as Ward. Coming from King, a pillar of the Bay Area's boxing community for decades, that says a lot.
Ward, 20, is an articulate and presentable guy, and with a gold medal, the young boxer could end up with a number of lucrative endorsement deals, King predicted.
"If he wins, and I feel he will, they'll be after him like (basketball player) LeBron James," King said. "He's very marketable. They want somebody like that."
Ward's family could not be reached for comment Thursday.
A postcard Ward sent to King from Italy a few months ago is stuck on the bulletin board at the
Del Toro has yet to see Ward spar at the gym, but said "I've heard hella stories about him." gym.
"I'm in Rome!" the postcard says. "They say this is where organized boxing and boxing gyms first got started."
The postcard shows a plaza in front of Rome's Pantheon. Ward drew an arrow pointing to a room on the top floor of an ornate hotel overlooking the plaza.
"I'm staying in this room!" Ward wrote. "But I'd rather be boxing!"
Yanique Garrett, 22, took a break after several rounds of impressive shadow boxing to point out the postcard.
"When I see stuff like this, that's beautiful," she said.
Garrett also intends to go pro. She said Ward's success and his work ethic are huge inspirations to other fighters at the gym.
"He's very good, he's very determined and he's very motivated," she said. "I know he's gonna win."
BACK TO EAST OAKLAND DOT COM