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NEW YORK, NY (February 9, 2016) - Roc Sechaba se Sports o thabela ho ho phatlalatsa hore tse peli ea Nako e World Champion le holimo-rated boima ba-ka ea boima ba oke Andre Ward (28-0, 15 Kos) tla khutlela ho ka tsa bophahamo ba ka Moqebelo, March 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^® qala ka 9:45 p.m. LE/PT.

Tickets turu ka $300, $150, $100, $50 le $25, ke ke ho akarelletsa le ho tshwanetseng tšebeletso liqoso le lekhetho, go on sale Tuesday, Feb. 9 ka 5:00 PM PT and will be available at all Ticketmaster locations, Inthaneteng ho Ticketmaster.com le ikarabellang ka fono ho (800) 745-3000.

“I don’t really have much to say other than this. Ka March 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,"O ile a re 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,"O ile a re 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. March 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.

Ka March 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, Phethahatso Motlatsi Mopresidente, HBO Sports. “With a perfect record dating back to the age of 12 le lilemo li, Andre has risen to every challenge as both an amateur and a professional, including world titles and an Olympic gold medal. Hona joale, he takes on Barrera, one of the toughest challengers as Ward moves up the scale. Boxing fans won’t want to miss it.”

Tsebahala ka ho oa hae o matla botho ba le botšepehi ka ntle ka tsa bophahamo ba le hae mohlabani ea bohlale ba tlhaho ka har'a eona, Ward’s skill and talent were apparent early in his outstanding amateur career. He racked up every title in the books, culminating le ka metlele ya gauta leseling heavyweight arola ka 2004 Olympic Games a Athens. As the only male American boxer to claim Olympic gold since 1996, Ward ile ka ea like ea Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard le Oscar De La Hoya. O ile a professional ka 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. Ka mor'a ho ba le Ring Magazine le WBA Super Middleweight World Champion, rising to the number two spot on the pound-for-pound list and winning the 2011 Oke ya Year khau (ESPN, Sports ho bontšitsoe, Ring Magazine le Boxing Writers Association of America), ho phatlalatsoa hore Ward saennweng a ikgethileng a papatso lumellana le Roc Sechaba se Sports a January 2015, se qalong khaolo e ncha hae eyebana papali ea litebele mosebetsi. The Bay Area sehlahiswa khutlela ka tsa bophahamo ba ka June 20, 2015 ka Oracle Arena ka pel'a motseng oa habo Fans a Oakland, California le scored le borobong ho pota knockout ka Pauluse o ile a Smith, continuing his unbeaten streak which dates back to when he was a 13-year-old amateur. Ward sa tsoa kenella ka pel'a khamera bakeng sa fapane ka ho feletseng karolo, a part in the New Line/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Warner Bros. feature “Creed.” Fellow Bay Area natives, motsamaisi Ryan Coogler le filimi ea naleli Michael B. Jordane, ile ba ho Ward le hore a ka fana ka hae bokgoni bakeng sa filimi. Ho phaella moo ho ho sebetsa ka pel'a khamera le Ward, Jordane ile a qeta nako ka Ward lehae la tlelaseng ea boikoetliso, a ho lokisetsa karolo ea hae e Apollo Creed mora oa. Now it’s time for Ward to get back to his day job when he faces the undefeated Barrera on March 26.

Born in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Barrera had an impressive amateur run with a record of 285-27. E le e tsenwe, 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’sLabohlano Bosiu ho loana ka, 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, etsahala Moqebelo, March 26, 2016 kwa oracle Arena a Oakland, California and will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing beginning at 9:45 p.m. LE/PT. Follow the conversation using #WardBarrera.

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