Andre Ward will make his highly anticipated return to the ring on June 20 in his hometown of Oakland, California with his opponent yet to be announced.
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Ward will fight at the Oracle Arena, home of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, in what will be his first bout in 19 months after his last outing took place in November 2013 in a title defence against Edwin Rodriguez.
It will be the sixth time that the Olympic gold medallist will be fighting at the arena, and it puts any rematch with Carl Froch on hold as it is unlikely to be the Brit who faces him on that date and in that venue.
The 31-year-old has only fought twice since defeating Froch in December 2011 in the final of the Super Six tournament which saw him unify the division, after a long-term shoulder injury and promotional issues have ensured that he has been unable to return to the ring until this summer.
Ward insisted that he wanted to reward his fans for being patient by giving them a home fight, and he remains confident that his inactivity will not be an issue as he has remained “committed to the sport” throughout the last two years, ESPN reports.
However, his fight will not be aired on HBO due to an inability to agree on an opponent and other details, and so Ward may well headline the first Roc Nation Sports card after joining the company as one of their premier clients.
Paul Smith and Marco Antonio Periban have been linked as potential opponents according to ESPN, but at this stage they have been merely mentioned in the conversation and there are no concrete offers on the table.
Ward will have plenty of questions to answer after such a long lay-off, but after establishing himself as one of the pound-for-pound best in the business, he will be itching to get back into the ring.
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