Super middleweight world champion Andre Ward, who has cleaned out the 168-pound division, is moving on to the next stage of his career at light heavyweight.
Ward (28-0, 15 KOs), 31, of Oakland, California, will move up in weight and fight at 175 pounds for the first time in the Miguel Cotto-Canelo Alvarez co-feature on Nov. 21 (HBO PPV) at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports, Ward’s promoter, announced on Thursday night.
The fight will be the first of an exclusive three-fight contract that Ward has signed with HBO. It will also include a fight in the spring of 2016, followed by a fall pay-per-view showdown with three-belt light heavyweight world titleholder Sergey Kovalev (28-0-1, 25 KOs), who is also under contract to HBO. Kovalev and his promoter, Main Events, have also agreed to terms. Andre Ward will move up in weight and fight at 175 pounds for the first time in the Miguel Cotto-Canelo Alvarez co-feature. Alexis Cuarezma/Getty Images
Both fighters must win their intervening bouts, but if that happens, Kovalev-Ward looms as one of the most significant fights of 2016, and the winner could emerge as the pound-for-pound king of boxing.
Roc Nation Sports did not announce Ward’s opponent for Nov. 21, but he is slated to face slugger Alexander Brand (24-1, 19 KOs), 38, of Columbia, in a scheduled 10-round bout. Brand has agreed to terms but has not signed yet while his lawyer reviews the paperwork, a source with knowledge of the agreement told ESPN.com.
Brand’s only loss was an eight-round split decision in May 2012 to Badou Jack, who went on to win a super middleweight world title. Brand has won seven fights in a row since.
“HBO is the premier network in boxing and has been a great home to me both as a fighter and a commentator,” Ward said. “I made my professional debut on HBO nearly 11 years ago and I’m excited to move on to this next stage of my career at the light heavyweight division on HBO. My team and I have been hard at work preparing for Nov. 21 and the fans can expect another strong performance in Las Vegas.”
When Ward, who won Olympic gold in 2004, was fighting exclusively on Showtime, he cruised through the 2009 to 2011 Super Six World Boxing Classic in dominant fashion as he beat one top super middleweight after the other to win a world title and then unify the two belts. He defeated Mikkel Kessler to win a world title in his first tournament bout, followed by wins against Allan Green, Sakio Bika (in a non-tournament bout), Arthur Abraham in the semifinals and Carl Froch to unify titles in the final.
But since the end of the tournament, and a move to HBO, Ward has fought just three times, including a very impressive 10th-round destruction of then-light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson, who dropped down in weight for the fight, in September 2012.
Ward was hampered by injuries after the tournament but was inactive mainly due to a protracted contract dispute with his former promoter, Dan Goossen. After Goossen died last year, his family settled the dispute and Roc Nation signed Ward.
Ward returned to easily knock out England’s Paul Smith in the ninth round on June 20 at 171? pounds in a non-title fight. It was Ward’s first fight since a one-sided decision against Edwin Rodriguez in November 2013.
“All of us at Roc Nation Sports are thrilled to partner with HBO as we embark on the next chapter in the storied career of Andre Ward,” said David Itskowitch, COO of Roc Nation’s boxing division. “Starting this multifight agreement and Andre’s quest to conquer the light heavyweight division with a fight on the highly anticipated Nov. 21 pay-per-view event is a fitting way to kick things off. We are hopeful that Nov. 21 is the first step toward a 2016 showdown with Sergey Kovalev.”
Before Ward went so inactive, he was widely considered the best fighter in the world not named Floyd Mayweather. Now that Mayweather has retired, Ward has a chance to claim the mantle with more activity. HBO said it was very pleased to sign one of boxing’s best.
“From Olympic gold medalist, to [unified] world champion, to winning all 28 of his professional bouts and dominating the super middleweight division, Andre Ward has demonstrated that he is among the finest performers in the sport,” said HBO Sports president Ken Hershman, who was responsible for signing Ward to Showtime when he ran that network’s sports division. “We are delighted to have Andre as part of our family, fighting exclusively on the HBO platforms.”
