by Edward Chaykovsky

Former super middleweight world champion Andre Ward will return in his second fight in his quest for the light heavyweight title, against Alexander Brand on August 6 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, according to ESPN.

Terms have reportedly been agreed upon between both fighters and the deal is expected to be finalized by the end of the week.

There is already a deal in place for Ward (29-0, 15KOs) to challenge WBO/IBF/WBA light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (29-0-1, 26KOs) on November 19 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. As part of the agreement, the two fighters were allowed to have two interim-bouts.

Kovalev had his first interim bout in January, when he knocked out Jean Pascal. The second interim bout takes place on July 11th against Isaac Chilemba (24-3-2, 10 KOs) at the DIVS Palace of Sports in Ekaterinburg, Russia.

After dominating the super middleweight division, Ward officially moved up to the light heavyweight limit in March and dominated previously undefeated Sullivan Barrera, also at the Oracle Arena.

The bout with Brand will be the third fight for Ward since his win over Edwin Rodriguez in the fall of 2013. He was fighting injuries and court cases during the extended layoff.

Even with Brand (25-1, 19 KOs), Ward was initially scheduled to face him last fall as part of the Canelo Alvarez-Miguel Cotto HBO Pay-Per-View on November 21 at the Mandalay Bay. The fight was canceled after Ward suffered a knee injury in training camp. Brand's last fight took place last December when he won a ten round split decision over previously unbeaten Medzhid Bektemirov. Brand is now riding an eight fight win streak since losing an eight round split decision Badou Jacon in 2012. Jack is now the current WBC super middleweight king.