DATE: Sunday, August 10, 1997               TAG: 9708080267

SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS     PAGE: 14   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   73 lines

DISCIPLINE PLACES LOCAL BOXER ON ROAD TO SUCCESS FORMER PORTSMOUTH BOXING STAR HELPS CHUBBY WARD STEER IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

Four years ago, Manndom ``Chubby'' Ward was an underachiever in school - when he bothered to show up. He preferred hanging out in the street and he loved to defy authority.

But he also loved expensive cars. And he wondered, given the lifestyle he'd chosen, how he'd ever be in position to buy one.

Then Ward met Rickey Fletcher.

``If you're willing to work for something, you can have anything you want,'' Fletcher, a former local boxing star, told Ward when he showed an interest in boxing. ``But you've got to do the work. It's that simple.''

It took about a month, but Fletcher's words eventually hit home. Ward began training with religious zeal. Discipline set in. A handful of impressive victories followed.

And now, Fletcher's starting to believe someday, they both may be riding in style.

``He has a chance to be the next Sweetpea Whitaker,'' Fletcher, now a trainer, said of Ward, the jewel of his three-man boxing team. ``I drive an old beat-up ''85 Fiero. When he makes it big, I want one of those Lexus 450s, too.''

No problem, said Ward, who has his sights firmly set on the 2000 Olympics.

``I believe I'm the best in my weight class,'' said Ward, who got his nickname from his grandmother because of the way he looked at birth but at 6-2, 147 pounds is clearly chubby no more. ``Nobody can beat me.''

Heard this kind of talk in boxing before? And it's particularly audacious coming from Ward, an 18-year-old novice who didn't have his 10th fight until Saturday, when he competed in the ``Boxing at the Park'' card at Norfolk's Barraud Park. A fighter so green the only trait he shares with Whitaker is a penchant for showboating.

``My strength is my movement, but sometimes I move too much,'' he said.

Still, Fletcher insists that this kid may really have what it takes.

``His skills are overwhelming,'' said Fletcher, a security guard at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. ``You've got to see him.''

Fletcher's certainly seen his share of fighters. A boxer himself for several years, Fletcher then turned to kickboxing and last year captured the International West Coast Karate Association's world welterweight championship.

A knee injury sustained in that title bout forced him to retire from fighting. Training others, he said, is the next best thing.

``It's my goal to help someone else make it farther than I did,'' the 41-year-old Fletcher said. ``I see in my future having a couple of world champions from Portsmouth. I really believe that.''

Should he succeed, it would complete a rags-to-riches story noteworthy even in boxing, a sport rife with such tales. Consider:

Fletcher's team has no gym or sponsors;

They practice on a Naval Shipyard tennis court;

Fletcher's three fighters - Ward, 6-6 heavyweight Arthur Bailey and soon-to-be pro light-heavyweight Darrell Ingram have to share equipment, including hand wraps.

``Sure the odds are against us,'' Fletcher said. ``But that's what makes it exciting and fun. Plus it brings us closer together.

``We're definitely starting from scratch, but we'll look back and laugh when we make it.''

But even if they fall short, this boxing episode has had a dramatic effect on the formerly wayward Ward, who now proudly talks about the GED he earned last fall.

``He'd just do a lot of hanging out with the fellas, throwing bottles in the street and other little kiddie-kiddie stuff,'' Fletcher said. ``And he didn't want to listen. Yeah, he was a little rough when we got started.

``But all that's changed now.''

Said Ward: ``Now I'm focused on something positive. That's why I really look up to my trainer. He took the time to get to know me as a person.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo/RICHARD L. DUNSTON

Manndom ``Chubby'' Ward, 18, was a school. But his dedication to

boxing rubbed off, and he earned a GED.

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