Andre Ward vs Alexander Brand official for August 6

Roc Nation Sports announced today that they’ve finalized a deal and all the details for Andre Ward’s next fight, coming on Saturday, August 6, against Colombia’s Alexander Brand.

Ward-Brand will be held at Ward’s home arena, Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, scheduled for 12 rounds and televised by HBO. If Ward (29-0, 15 KO) and Sergey Kovalev (29-0-1, 26 KO) both win their interim bouts, they’re scheduled to meet in an HBO pay-per-view main event on November 19 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Kovalev will face Isaac Chilemba on July 11 in Russia.

This is about the same level of risk as Kovalev-Chilemba, as Ward, like Kovalev, is facing a solid enough fighter but one who shouldn’t be a true threat. Brand (25-1, 19 KO) can be an awkward sort, but there’s little he does that figures to trouble Ward, one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport today. Brand has won eight straight following a debatable loss to Badou Jack in 2012.