NEW YORK, New York (Juin 28, 2016) - Roc Nation Sport est heureux d'annoncer que le Champion du Monde Two-Time et top-rated livre pour livre de combat Andre Ward (29-0, 15 KOs) sera de retour sur le ring leSamedi, Août 6, to continue his conquest of the light heavyweight division when he takes on power-punching Colombian Alexander Brand (25-1, 19 KOs) at Oracle Arena in Ward’s hometown of Oakland, Californie. The event will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing® à partir de 10:30 p.m. ET/PT.
Ward and Brand were slated to face each other last November on the pay-per-view undercard of Miguel Cotto vs. Canelo Alvarez, but a leg injury forced Ward to withdraw from participation in the event.
Billets au prix de $300, $120, $90, $60 et $30, non compris les charges et taxes de service applicables, go on sale Tuesday, Juin 28 à 5:00 p.m. PT and will be available at all Ticketmaster locations, en ligne sur Ticketmaster.com et la charge par téléphone au (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, Solutions de gestion de Voyage d'entreprise (CTMS) and The Clorox Company, supporting the Bay Area Community for over 100 ans.
“We can get it on, maintenant,», A déclaré Ward. "Août 6e, je serai prêt, 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 Août 6,»A déclaré David Itskowitch, COO de Boxe 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, Vice-président exécutif, HBO Sports. “On August 6e, 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.”
Connu pour son fort caractère et l'intégrité à l'extérieur du ring et son instinct de guerrier intérieur, 32 year-old Andre Ward’s skill and talent were apparent early in his outstanding amateur career. Il a accumulé tous les titres dans les livres, culminating in a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 2004 Jeux olympiques d'Athènes, Grèce. As the only male American boxer to claim Olympic gold in the past
decade, Ward a rejoint les goûts de Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard et Oscar De La Hoya. Il est devenu professionnel sur Décembre 18, 2004, marquant un deuxième tour de la victoire KO technique au cours Chris Molina au Staples Center dans un combat qui a été retransmis en direct sur HBO. Il a continué à accumuler 27 plus de victoires depuis lors, la construction d'une légion croissante de fans dans le processus. Après être devenu le Champion du Monde Ring Magazine et WBA Super-, remonter à la deuxième place sur la liste de livre-pour-livre et de gagner le 2011 Fighter of the Year Award (ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Ring Magazine et l'Association de boxe Writers of America), il a été annoncé que Ward a signé un accord exclusif de promotion avec Roc Nation Sport en Janvier 2015, l'ouverture d'un nouveau chapitre dans sa carrière de boxeur étages. Le produit Bay Area retour sur le ring le Juin 20, 2015 à l'Oracle Arena en face de ses fans ville natale à Oakland, Californie et a marqué un KO au neuvième round sur 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. Jordanie, 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 tours. 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 KOs) turned professional at the relatively late age of 32 following a long and accomplished amateur career that saw him tally over 400 victoires. He burst on to the professional scene in 2009, scoring knockout wins in his first 12 fights and winning 15 de son premier 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. Depuis ce combat, Marque a passé tous les tests de l'anneau avec brio, notching eight consecutive victories. Dans son dernier combat, 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, Floride. 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 et 94-95. Le 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 Août 6 and thrust himself into light heavyweight title contention.
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