Andre Ward?s ?next fight will be on HBO,? his promoter, Dan Goossen, told me Friday afternoon.
That next fight is almost certain to be a high-profile bout with light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson, who defeated Bernard Hopkins on HBO in April and in the aftermath called out Ward, the 168-pound champion from Oakland who won Showtime?s 2009-2011 Super Six tournament.
Goossen confirmed reports that negotiations for Ward-Dawson are under way, with Sept. 8 the target date and Los Angeles or Atlantic City the likely site. It would not be a pay-per-view event, Goossen said.
My HBO sources say the cable giant is trying to goose the negotiations between Goossen and Gary Shaw, who promotes Dawson. An HBO spokesman declined to go that far, merely stating ?These are two of the sport’s elite fighters who are in the prime of their careers, and it’s a compelling, intriguing match-up.?
That sounded a lot like the non-confirmation a year and a half ago of the Nonito Donaire-Fernando Montiel bout that took place on HBO three months later.
So take it to the bank, and it?s a bankable fight. Ward-Dawson is at least as monumental as Donaire-Montiel.
On the 2012 docket, unless Floyd Mayweather fights Sergio Martinez, Ward-Dawson is the most glamorous fight north of welterweight on the horizon.
Although Goossen and Shaw have an often-prickly relationship and were unable to bring off a bout between Ward and Andre Dirrell during the Super Six, Goossen said the Dawson talks are encouraging.
Ward?s move to HBO has been a foregone conclusion, especially since Super Six mastermind Ken Hershman moved from head of Showtime?s sports division to head of HBO Sports last year.
Ward supplied color commentary on HBO during a couple rounds of the Dawson-Hopkins fight and probably is a hotter commodity than Dawson, though Dawson might be favored to win the actual fight. Ward has been in The Ring?s top 10 pound-for-pound the past year and is No. 5 now, whereas Dawson is only recently back up to No. 10. the fringe of that.
Both Ward and Dawson have expressed flexibility about a weight limit for their bout. No weight from 168 to 175 would be surprising, especially considering Ward won his Olympic gold medal in 2004 as a light heavy and has said he hopes to try cruiserweight and heavyweight someday.
Dawson has seemed the ultimate target from the time Ward seized command in the Super Six. This would be Ward?s biggest win yet and might well turn him into a pay-per-view level commodity.
