TELEVISERET LIVE ON HBO
NEW YORK, NY (Februar 9, 2016) - Roc Nation Sports er glad for at meddele, at to-tiden verdensmester og top-rated pund-for-pund fighter André Ward (28-0, 15 KOS) vil vende tilbage til ringen på Lørdag, Marts 26, to begin his assault on the light heavyweight division when he takes on undefeated and number one rated IBF light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera (17-0, 12 KOS) in a 12-round bout at Oracle Arena in Ward’s hometown of Oakland, California. The event will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing® begynder ved 9:45 p.m. OG/PT.
Billetter prissat til $300, $150, $100, $50 og $25, ikke herunder gældende gebyrer og afgifter, go on sale Tuesday, Februar. 9 på 5:00 PM PT and will be available at all Ticketmaster locations, online på Ticketmaster.com og ladning på telefon (800) 745-3000.
“I don’t really have much to say other than this. On marts 26, it will be very simple. I’ll be in a new weight class against a tough opponent but I’m coming with the same approach,"Sagde Ward. “I’ll be in great shape and ready for battle. Sullivan Barrera has had a lot to say lately and I love it. He’s going to have an opportunity to back up every word that he has spoken. These are the type of challenges I like and on March 26, it’s go time.”
“We as a team had a tough choice to make – crash the party by taking out Ward first or wait for the mandatory and take out Kovalev,” said Barrera. “We decided that the time is now. Ward will fall first and then we will go after the belts.”
“Having cleaned out the super middleweight division, Andre’s next challenge is to become the best light heavyweight in the world, and that challenge begins with the IBF’s number one rated contender in Sullivan Barrera,"Sagde David Itskowitch, COO of Boxing Roc Nation Sports. “With both fighters having their sights set on an eventually showdown with Unified Light Heavyweight World Champion Sergey Kovalev, there’s a lot on the line in this fight, but only one man will move on. Marts 26 is a night of boxing that no fan should miss.”
“I’m excited to be on Team Ward as we enter the light heavyweight division. No weapons formed against us shall prosper,” said James Prince, Ward’s manager.
På Marts 26, before a hometown crowd, pound for pound star Andre Ward returns to HBO in his light heavyweight debut against undefeated Sullivan Barrera” said Peter Nelson, Executive Vice President, HBO Sports. “With a perfect record dating back to the age of 12 år, Andre has risen to every challenge as both an amateur and a professional, including world titles and an Olympic gold medal. Nu, he takes on Barrera, one of the toughest challengers as Ward moves up the scale. Boxing fans won’t want to miss it.”
Kendt for sin stærke karakter og integritet uden for ringen og hans kriger instinkt inde i det, Ward’s skill and talent were apparent early in his outstanding amateur career. He racked up every title in the books, kulminerede med en guldmedalje i lyset sværvægter division på 2004 Olympiske Lege i Athen. As the only male American boxer to claim Olympic gold since 1996, Ward sluttede den holder af Muhammad Ali, Sukker Ray Leonard og Oscar De La Hoya. Han blev professionel i december 18, 2004, scoring a second round technical knockout victory over Chris Molina at Staples Center in a fight that was televised live on HBO. He has gone on to rack up 27 more victories since then, building an ever-growing legion of fans in the process. Efter at være blevet Ring Magazine og WBA Super mellemvægt verdensmester, rising to the number two spot on the pound-for-pound list and winning the 2011 Fighter of the Year Award (ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Ring Magazine og Boksning Writers Association of America), blev det meddelt, at Ward underskrevet en eksklusiv salgsfremmende aftale med Roc Nation Sports i januar 2015, at åbne et nyt kapitel i sin storied boksning karriere. The Bay Area produkt tilbage til ringen juni 20, 2015 på Oracle Arena foran hans hjemby fans i Oakland, Californien og scorede en niende runde knockout i Paul Smith, continuing his unbeaten streak which dates back to when he was a 13-year-old amateur. Ward nylig trådte foran kameraet for en helt anden rolle, a part in the New Line/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Warner Bros. feature “Creed.” Fellow Bay Area natives, direktør Ryan Coogler og filmens stjerne Michael B. Jordan, nåede ud til Ward, så han kunne give sin ekspertise til filmen. Ud over at arbejde foran kameraet med Ward, Jordan brugte tid på Wards hjem gym som forberedelse til sin rolle som Apollo Creed søn. Now it’s time for Ward to get back to his day job when he faces the undefeated Barrera on Marts 26.
Born in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Barrera had an impressive amateur run with a record of 285-27. Som en amatør, he was able to earn World Amateur Championships in Germany, Cuba, Venezuela and Central America. During his amateur career he also defeated former Light Heavyweight World Champions Chad Dawson and Beibut Shumenov. Following his defection from Cuba, where he was a member of the country’s national team, Barrera made his professional debut in 2009 with a first round technical knockout win over Anthony Adorno in his adopted hometown of Miami, Florida. He would go on to knockout the first five opponents he faced in his professional career in either the first or second round. Barrera made his television debut in January of 2015 with his appearance on ESPN’sFredag Night Fights, when he scored a fourth round knockout win over former Super Middleweight World Champion Jeff Lacy. Barrera quietly rose through the ratings of the light heavyweight division until he was afforded the opportunity to fight former Light Heavyweight World Title Challenger Karo Murat to become the IBF’s number one rated light heavyweight contender. Barrera seized the opportunity, knocking out Murat in the fifth round on December 12, 2015 in his HBO Latino Boxing debut at the Civic Auditorium in Glendale, California. Sullivan is trained by legendary trainer, Abel Sanchez, who is best known for his work with middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin. When he is not at The Summit in Big Bear Lake, California training with Sanchez, Barrera resides in Miami, Florida.
Ward vs. Barrera, a 12-round fight which is presented by Roc Nation Sports in association with Main Events, finder sted Lørdag, Marts 26, 2016 på Oracle Arena i Oakland, California and will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing beginning at 9:45 p.m. OG/PT. Follow the conversation using #WardBarrera.
For mere information, kan du besøge www.rocnation.com. Følg Roc Nation på Twitter og Instagramrocnation og på Facebook på www.facebook.com/RocNation.
For mere information, besøg www.hbo.com/boxing, follow on Twitter and Instagram at @HBOBoxing and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HBOBoxing.