Former unified WBA, WBC and Ring magazine middleweight champion Andre Ward is set to face Alexander Brand of Colombia in a tune up fight on Saturday against Sergey Kovalev for the WBA, IBF and WBO light heavyweight titles on Nov. 19 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ward needs a tune up fight as he moves up to the light-heavyweight limit to face Kovalev in the biggest and most lucrative fight of his boxing career. While Ward is unbeaten in his pro career with 29 wins and one disqualification, the 32-year-old San Francisco native has been inactive in the latter part of his career due to injuries and feud with his former promoter which are the reasons why he needed a tune up fight. Ward’s sudden decision to move up to the light heavyweight limit of 175 pounds caught boxing fans by surprise as he has been doing quite well in the 168-pound limit. Reports have indicated that he was looking at a lucrative fight against the unbeaten Russian light heavyweight titlist Sergey Kovalev, who is rated No. 1 in the Ring’s 175 pounds weight limit. Read more. After his last fight against Cuban fighter Sullivan Barrera, Ward said he was not using his long layoff from boxing as an excuse for any level but admits he needs to be active more than ever. ?I probably grade myself a B-minus, I wouldn?t use the layoff as an excuse on any level. But the more you fight, the sharper you get and there are certain things that I wanted to do that I didn?t do tonight. But it just shows that maybe not even being my best, we can still get it done. I wanted to get my punches off a little bit more. I feel if I could have got the right shots in, we could have stopped him. And getting off more combinations and tightening more things up.? Ward said after the fight. Brand could be an easy fight for Ward despite the Colombian’s fairly good career record of 25 win and one loss. But he has not figured in a major title fight and most of his past opponents were untested in their own careers. Most likely, Ward will have little problem disposing Brand, who is seven years his senior. But if he fails to secure a convincing win despite his age, experience and height advantage, he certainly does not deserve the Kovalev fight.
