Ward vs. Brand

Ward lists Crawford as potential Mayweather replacement

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Image: Ward lists Crawford as potential Mayweather replacement

By Dan Ambrose: Andre Ward (29-0, 15 KOs) says he sees himself and Terence Crawford as two of the many possible fighters that will be stepping in to replace Floyd Mayweather Jr. to become the new face of boxing now that he’s stepped away from the sport. Ward doesn’t see it being an easy thing to step in and replace Mayweather, because it takes a lot of talent and then you’ve got to be able to prove it over and over again.

Ward, 32, is way behind in the game if he’s going to be the replacement for Mayweather, because he’s missed a lot of fights in the last four years of his pro career by not fighting on a frequent basis and missing two entire years.

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Weights: Ward 175, Brand 173.2

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By Jim Dower: A much bigger Andre Ward (29-0, 15 KOs) successfully weighed in on Friday in coming in right at the light heavyweight limit at 175 pounds for his tune-up bout against 39-year-old super middleweight contender Alexander Brand (25-1, 19 KOs). Brand came in at 173.2lbs. The difference between the 6’0” Ward and the 5’10 ½” Brand was pretty dramatic in looking at the two fighters, because Ward appears to be at least two divisions bigger than the 40-ish Brand.

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Ward vs. Brand: Andre ready to win

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By Scott Gilfoid: Andre Ward will be looking to show his stuff this Saturday night in what amounts to be the sacrificial lamb against the brave but limited Alexander Brand on HBO Boxing on August 6 at the Oracle Arena in the very, very beautiful Oakland, California. Ward (29-0, 15 KOs) will be making his third fight at light heavyweight after moving up to the 175lb division in 2015 in search of bigger mountains to climb. Brand (25-1, 19 KOs) will give it his best shot in this fight, but Ward’s size advantage and talent will make it tough on him.

Honestly, the talented Ward would still likely be at super middleweight if he could get the top fighters to face him, but after nine years in that weight class, Ward decided to move up to 175 in order to get bigger fights.

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Ward vs. Brand: Alexander has 3 chances for victory

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By Patrick McHugh: Andre Ward vs. Alexander Brand will be televised this Saturday night on HBO Boxing at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. Ward, 32, wants to show off what he can do to the boxing fans that will be tuning in to see the contest. Brand is a real long shot to get the victory in this fight because he’s slower, less skilled a lot older than Ward at 39.

This is a whole different ball game from the type of fighters that Brand has been facing during his pro career. However, he does have prior experience in the past with a long amateur career in fighting against top fighters from around the world, so he’s not entirely without a chance in this contest. The size difference will be a problem for Brand. He’s an inch and a half shorter than the 6’0″ Ward, and he looks much smaller than him. When the two fighters stood for a face off today, it made the size different more noticeable. Ward looks like a giant next to Brand, who is the same height as Gennady Golovkin at 5′ 10½″. As big as Ward is, you have to wonder why he took so long in moving up to the 175lb division. He’s a true light heavyweight. He may not have the kind of punching power of the topo fighters in the division, but he’s definitely a light heavyweight.

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Ward vs. Brand: Andre will have size advantage

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Image: Ward vs. Brand: Andre will have size advantage

By Allan Fox: In a fight that many boxing fans see an unfair match-up, unbeaten light heavyweight Andre Ward (29-0, 15 KOs) will be facing a nearly 40-year-old fighter named Alexander Brand (25-1, 19 KOs) this Saturday night on August 6 on HBO Boxing at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. The fight won’t be a title fight, and it’s scheduled for 12 rounds.

Ward, 32, will be bigger, younger and faster than Brand. Why Ward ever agreed to fight Brand rather than one of the more viable contenders in the 175lb division is unknown. It’s hard for boxing fans to get motivated to see Ward fight guys that are out of his league and still fighting in a division that he left a long time ago.

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Andre Ward heavily favored over Alexander Brand

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By Allan Fox: Unbeaten #1 IBF, #2 WBA, #2 WBO, #3 WBC light heavyweight contender Andre Ward (29-0, 15 KOs) is heavily favored to defeat 39-year-old Alexander Brand (25-1, 19 KOs) in their fight this Saturday night on August 6 on HBO from the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. The Ward-Brand fight will start at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT and will be taking place in the 175lb division.

Ward is favored at-10000 by Bovado with Brand at +1600. The interest in the fight has been minimal at best. It’s unclear why HBO gave Ward the green light for this mismatch, because he’s already had two easy fights in his last two bouts against Sullivan Barrera and Paul Smith.

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Maurice Hooker vs. Ty Barnett on Ward vs. Brand card on Saturday

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By Hector Sanchez / Photos By Stacey Verbeek: Maurice “Mighty Mo” Hooker (20-0-2, 15 KO’S) from Dallas, Texas is ranked in the top ten by the WBO as a junior welterweight. On Saturday, August 6, 2016 he returns to the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California to showcase his exciting brand of boxing against Ty Barnett (23-4-1, 15 KO’s) on the undercard of the HBO Andre Ward/ Alexander Brand championship fight

His first fight at the Oracle Arena was in March of this year where he made his debut fight with Roc Nation against Wilfrido Buelvas (17-5, 3 KO’s). Although his camp probably wanted more rounds, Mighty Mo wasted no time by taking out the southpaw Buelvas in explosive fashion with a crushing body shot in the first round.

As impressive as he is with his boxing skills in the ring, Mighty Mo is just as impressive outside the ring. At his home gym at the Maple Avenue Boxing Gym in Dallas, Texas, Hooker is always helping out the young fighters by offering them advice in boxing, showing them his accomplishments, but also mentoring them to stay in school so they can give back to the community themselves some day.

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Ward vs. Brand next Saturday

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By Allan Fox: Andre Ward (29-0, 15 KOs) will be making his tune-up fight against Alexander Brand (25-1, 19 KOs) next Saturday night on on August 6 HBO from the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. This is a rust-ridding fight that Ward wanted to help sharpen him up for a title shot against unbeaten IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev for their November 19 fight.

Kovalev’s trainer John David Jackson says that Brand, 39, probably wasn’t paid very much money for the fight. For Ward to have gotten a good opponent, his promoters at Roc Nation Sports would have needed to come up with good money.

Brand isn’t supposed to give Ward any problems, and Jackson feels that he’ll end up taking away the Columbian fighter’s best weapons and wind up frustrating him.

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Ward vs. Brand – 9 days away

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By Allan Fox: Light heavyweight contender Andre Ward’s tune-up fight against #10 WBA Alexander Brand (25-1, 19 KOs) is little over a week away and very few boxing fans are talking about the Ward-Brand fight. Instead, the fans are discussing Ward’s scheduled fight against IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev, who Ward (29-0, 15 KOs) is supposed to be facing on November 19 if he beats Brand.

Ward vs. Brand will be taking place on August 6 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland. California. HBO Boxing will be televising it despite the fact that it’s considered to be a mismatch.

It doesn’t seem hardly fair to Brand that the fans are already counting him as a win for Ward and are talking now of the Ward vs. Kovalev fight. Brand has a real chance of winning this fight against Ward, because he’s better than the last two guys that Ward has fought.

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