It took only about six minutes of sparring for RING super middleweight champion  Andre Ward to determine that Alfredo Angulo is the truth.

"We only went two rounds," said Ward, "but Angulo is a really good fighter and he's got heavy, heavy hands, and he knows how to fight period."

Angulo shares California-based trainer Virgil Hunter with Ward and former junior welterweight beltholder Amir Khan, and has trained with both boxers in advance of his March 8 clash with Canelo Alvarez.

During an interview with RingTV.com, Angulo said that working with the lighter, swifter Khan has helped him to make adjustments for speed, while his sessions against Ward have improved his resolve against a larger fighter with superior skills and technique.

Ward usually doesn't spar with gym mates if he isn't preparing for his own fight but he made an exception for Angulo.

"I'm obviously not a sparring partner but I know that Angulo has got a very important fight coming up and so I was in the gym, and Virgil asked me if he could use me here and there," Ward said during an interview with RingTV.com on Tuesday.

"Angulo is a veteran. Like I said, he's got heavy hands and he works great to the body, and again, he just knows how to put certain punches in certain places. He knows how to do it. You can tell just sparring with a guy that if he throws a shot and he landed it by chance or if he mean to land that shot. Like I said, every shot that Angulo lands, he means to land it, let's just put it like that."

Angulo (22-3, 18 knockouts) will face countryman Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 KOs) on Showtime Pay Per View from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, site of Alvarez's first career loss, to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September.

In his last bout, in June, Angulo scored two knockdowns during a brutal and dramatic 10th-round stoppage loss to Erislandy Lara.

"I think that we're going to work a little bit more tonight, and this will only be the second session, but we've only sparred one time, and that was only for two rounds," said Ward.

"But I can see why he gives 154-pounders a lot of fits, let's put it like that. He knows how to fight, and he knows how to put the right kind of pressure on you at the right time, and he knows when to rest, and he's knows when to fight."

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