By Steve Kim
Andre Ward was scheduled to fight on the Miguel Cotto-Saul Alvarez HBO pay-per-view undercard on November 21st at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. But those plans were scrapped as it was announced that swelling in his right knee had forced him to withdraw from his bout against Alexander Brand.
The fight with Brand was going to be the start of Ward's new three-fight deal with HBO that was to have culminated in a showdown with WBA/WBO/IBF light heavyweight king Sergey Kovalev.
It's not clear when the oft-injured Ward will return to the ring.
When asked how this impacts Kovalev's plans for 2016, the head of Main Events, Kathy Duva told BoxingScene.com:
"It's a little early to say if it affects us, at all. I don't know. But we're going to have to sit down with everyone and see how it plays out. I don't have an answer. Hopefully, it's a minor inconvenience and he'll get back on track and we talk about all the things we did before - but at the moment we are waiting like everybody else to see if this means anything."
Currently, Kovalev is scheduled to face Jean Pascal in a rematch on January 30th. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the year plays out for him - regarding the time frame for a bout with Ward and whether or not there is still the possibility of finally facing WBC champion Adonis Stevenson.
Regardless, Duva makes it clear that Kovalev will fight three times in 2016.
"That is our plan, yes," she stated.
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com
