LIVE PE HBO® televizata
NEW YORK, NY (Februarie 9, 2016) - Roc Nation Sports are plăcerea să anunțe că de două ori campion mondial și top-evaluat lire-pentru-lire luptator Andre Ward (28-0, 15 KO) va reveni la inelul pe Sâmbătă, Martie 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 KO) 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® începând de la 9:45 p.m. ȘI/PT.
Bilete la pretul de $300, $150, $100, $50 și $25, nu inclusiv cheltuieli de servicii aplicabile și impozite, go on sale Tuesday, Februarie. 9 la 5:00 PM PT and will be available at all Ticketmaster locations, online la Ticketmaster.com și taxa prin telefon la (800) 745-3000.
“I don’t really have much to say other than this. La martie 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,", A spus 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,", A spus 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. Martie 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.
Pe Martie 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 Sport. “With a perfect record dating back to the age of 12 ani, Andre has risen to every challenge as both an amateur and a professional, including world titles and an Olympic gold medal. Acum, he takes on Barrera, one of the toughest challengers as Ward moves up the scale. Boxing fans won’t want to miss it.”
Cunoscut pentru caracterul său puternic și integritatea afara ringului și instinctul războinic său în interiorul acestuia, Ward’s skill and talent were apparent early in his outstanding amateur career. He racked up every title in the books, culminând cu o medalie de aur în categoria grea lumina de la 2004 Jocurile Olimpice de la Atena. As the only male American boxer to claim Olympic gold since 1996, Ward a intrat place de Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard și Oscar De La Hoya. Se întoarse profesionale decembrie 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. După ce a devenit campion mondial mijlocie Ring Magazine și WBA Super, rising to the number two spot on the pound-for-pound list and winning the 2011 Luptător a Anului (ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Magazine inel și Asociația Scriitorilor de box of America), a fost anunțat că Ward a semnat un acord de promovare exclusiv cu Roc Nation Sport în ianuarie 2015, deschiderea unui nou capitol in cariera sa de box la parter. Produsul Bay Area a revenit la inelul iunie 20, 2015 la Oracle Arena in fata fanilor orașul său natal din Oakland, California si a marcat un knock-out-a rundă nouă pe Paul Smith, continuing his unbeaten streak which dates back to when he was a 13-year-old amateur. Ward pășit recent în fața aparatului de fotografiat pentru un rol complet diferit, a part in the New Line/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Warner Bros. feature “Creed.” Fellow Bay Area natives, director Ryan Coogler și stele filmului Michael B. Iordania, a ajuns la Ward, astfel că el ar putea oferi expertiza sa pentru filmul. În plus față de lucru în fața aparatului de fotografiat cu Ward, Iordania a petrecut timp la sala de sport acasă Ward, în curs de pregătire pentru rolul lui Apollo Creed lui fiu. Now it’s time for Ward to get back to his day job when he faces the undefeated Barrera on Martie 26.
Born in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Barrera had an impressive amateur run with a record of 285-27. Ca un amator, 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’sVineri Lupte de noapte, 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, are loc Sâmbătă, Martie 26, 2016 la Oracle Arena din Oakland, California and will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing beginning at 9:45 p.m. ȘI/PT. Follow the conversation using #WardBarrera.
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