NEW YORK, NY (Junie 28, 2016) - Roc Nasie Sport is bly om aan te kondig dat twee keer wêreldkampioen en top-gegradeerde pond-vir-pond vegter Andre Ward (29-0, 15 Uitklophoue) sal terugkeer na die ringSaterdag, Augustus 6, to continue his conquest of the light heavyweight division when he takes on power-punching Colombian Alexander Brand (25-1, 19 Uitklophoue) at Oracle Arena in Ward’s hometown of Oakland, Kalifornië. The event will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing® begin by 10:30 namiddag. EN/PT.
Ward and Brand were slated to face each other last November on the pay-per-view undercard of Miguel Cotto vs. Rumo Alvarez, but a leg injury forced Ward to withdraw from participation in the event.
Kaartjies kos $300, $120, $90, $60 en $30, nie, insluitend toepassing diensgelde en belasting, go on sale Tuesday, Junie 28 by 5:00 namiddag. PT and will be available at all Ticketmaster locations, aanlyn by Ticketmaster.com en beheer per telefoon by (800) 745-3000.
Ward vs. Brand is a 12-round fight presented by Roc Nation Sports and sponsored by Corona Extra, the motion picture HANDS OF STONE: The True Story of Roberto Duran, Corporate Travel Management Solutions (CTMS) and The Clorox Company, supporting the Bay Area Community for over 100 jaar.
“We can get it on, nou,"Sê Ward. "Augustus 6ste, I will be ready, so come out to Oracle Arena or tune in live on HBO. Don’t miss it.”
“It will be a great honor to face Andre Ward on August 6 and better yet in his own backyard,” said Brand. “Fighting somebody with such an illustrious career, facing a guy that perhaps hasn’t lost a round in his entire life, is even more thrilling. We were set to face each other last November, but he was forced to pull out of the fight with an injury. Now the time has come to fight him and I can’t wait to derail his future plans. I’ll work hard to spoil them.”
“Andre Ward’s quest to become the best light heavyweight on the planet and boxing’s number one pound-for-pound fighter continues on Augustus 6,"Sê David Itskowitch, COO of Boxing Roc Nation Sports. “Alexander Brand has been waiting for this fight since last year and we have no doubt he is going to enter the ring hungry for a huge victory. There’s a lot on the line in this fight for Andre who knows he can’t look past Brand towards a much discussed clash with Unified Light Heavyweight World Champion Sergey Kovalev.”
“Undefeated for the last two decades, technically brilliant and the last American man to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing, Andre Ward is one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world,” said Peter Nelson, Uitvoerende vise-president, HBO Sport. “On August 6ste, Andre continues his move up in weight to campaign in the 175-pound division against challenger Alexander Brand in front a hometown crowd at the Oracle.”
Bekend vir sy sterk karakter en integriteit buite die ring en instink sy vegter daarin, 32 year-old Andre Ward’s skill and talent were apparent early in his outstanding amateur career. He racked up every title in the books, culminating in a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 2004 Olimpiese Spele in Athene, Griekeland. As the only male American boxer to claim Olympic gold in the past
decade, Ward by die hou van Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard en Oscar De La Hoya. Hy het professionele Desember 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. Nadat die Ring Magazine en WBA Middelgewig Super World Champion, rising to the number two spot on the pound-for-pound list and winning the 2011 Vegter van die Jaar-toekenning (ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Ring Magazine en die boks Skrywers Vereniging van Amerika), is aangekondig dat Ward in Januarie 'n eksklusiewe promosie ooreenkoms onderteken met Roc Nasie Sport 2015, opening van 'n nuwe hoofstuk in sy boeiende boks loopbaan. Die Bay Area produk terug na die ring op Junie 20, 2015 by die Oracle Arena in die voorkant van sy tuisdorp ondersteuners in Oakland, Kalifornië en behaal 'n negende ronde knockout oor Paul Smith, continuing his unbeaten streak which dates back to when he was a 12-year-old amateur. In his most recent fight on March 26, 2016, Ward made his highly publicized 175-pound debut against Cuba’s undefeated and IBF number one rated light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera in front of frenzied crowd at Oracle Arena that including luminaries such as Michael B. Jordan, Stephen Curry, Marshawn Lynch and Draymond Green. Ward expertly managed the fight and began to unravel his opponent in the third round when he caught Barrera with a counter left hook, dropping him to the canvas. The rest was a routine victory for Ward, who scored a dominating dispatch of Barrera by way of unanimous decision after 12 rondes. Ward looks forward to a formidable challenge in Brand who is now the only obstacle in the way of his anticipated showdown against Unified Light Heavyweight World Champion Sergey Kovalev in the fall.
Bogota, Colombia native Alexander Brand (25-1, 19 Uitklophoue) turned professional at the relatively late age of 32 following a long and accomplished amateur career that saw him tally over 400 oorwinnings. He burst on to the professional scene in 2009, scoring knockout wins in his first 12 fights and winning 15 van sy eerste 17 bouts inside the distance. His first and only professional setback came via an eight-round split decision loss to current WBC Super Middleweight World Champion Badou Jack in a 2012 fight that many ringside observers thought Brand had won. Sedert daardie stryd, Brand het elke ring toets met vlieënde vaandels geslaag, notching eight consecutive victories. In sy laaste bout, Brand faced the sternest test of his career since the Jack fight when he fought a favored, undefeated and highly touted light heavyweight Medzhid Bektemirov on December 5, 2015 at Osceola Heritage Center in Kissimmee, Florida. Brand weathered an early Bektemirov blitz, including recovering from a first round knockdown, and notched a 10-round split decision victory by the scores of 98-91, 98-91 en 94-95. Die 39 year-old Brand, who has held several regional title including the WBC Latino Super Middleweight and the WBC Silver Interim Super Middleweight Championships, will be looking to pull off another upset on Augustus 6 and thrust himself into light heavyweight title contention.
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