By Tim Fletcher: The negotiations for the March 26 fight between former WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward (28-0, 15 KOs) and unbeaten #1 IBF light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera (17-0, 12 KOs) is now a done deal and the fight is official. The Ward-Barrera fight will be taking place at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. The fight will be televised on HBO.
Ward, 31, is looking forward to the contest because he wants to see the 33-year-old Barrera try and back-up his tough talk that he’s been making lately outside of the ring. Ward is motivated for this fight and he cannot wait to face Barrera in what will be Ward’s first real fight in the 175lb division.
Ward is moving up in weight from 168 to 175 in hopes of making a mark in the division. Ward had already played out the super middleweight division a long time ago, and he was faced with the reality that the new crop of top fighters in the division weren’t in the least interested in facing him.
Rather than sit around and wait for one of them to one day give him a fight in the distant future, Ward made the smart move in moving up in weight to the light heavyweight division.
There’s a bit of confusion about Ward’s new three-fight contract that he recently signed with HBO. Ward was supposed to fight last November on the undercard of the Miguel Cotto vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on HBO PPV. This was supposed to have been Ward’s first fight of his three-fight contract with HBO.
However, Ward pulled out of the fight due to a knee injury. According to Dan Rafael, that date could count as Ward’s first fight of his three-fight contract. That’s something that is still hashed out. Ward sees the Barrera fight as his first fight of the contract. You could understand why HBO might want to count the missed fight by Ward as his first fight of the contract, because they can’t afford to be stringing along fighters that come up lame.
Ward has had injuries in the past. This isn’t new for him to suffer an injury. If the November fight date counts as Ward’s first fight of his contract with HBO, then the Barrera will be No.2 and the Sergey Kovalev fight will be No.3. It makes sense.
What you don’t need is Ward eating up time with injuries, and HBO being left with nothing to show for their fight dates that Ward was previously scheduled for. Hopefully, Ward doesn’t suffer an injury that causes him to pull out of the Barrera fight.
He got what he asked for! It's on March 26 at @OracleArena on @HBOboxing. Tix on sale at 5 pm PT today. #WardBarrera pic.twitter.com/dDCShsJ82t
— Andre S.O.G. Ward (@andreward) February 10, 2016
“I don’t really have much to say other than this. On March 26, it will be very simple. I’ll be in a new weight class against a tough opponent but I’m coming with the same approach,” said Ward. “I’ll be in great shape and ready for battle. Sullivan Barrera has had a lot to say lately and I love it. He’s going to have an opportunity to back up every word that he has spoken. These are the type of challenges I like and on March 26, it’s go time.”
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