Photos: Andre Ward Throws Ceremonial First Pitch in Oakland

Last evening, Two-Time World Champion and 2004 Olympic Medalist Andre Ward took to the Oakland Athletics’ mound for the ceremonial first pitch ahead of game two of the Bay Bridge Series against the San Francisco Giants. Photos courtesy of Khristopher "Squint" Sandifer:

A proud Oakland native, the undefeated Ward (29-0, 15 KOs) will return to the ring on Saturday, August 6 at Oracle Arena to continue his conquest of the light heavyweight division when he takes on power-punching Colombian Alexander Brand (25-1, 19 KOs). The event will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing® beginning at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT. Follow the conversation using #WardBrand.

Ward and Brand were slated to face each other last November on the pay-per-view undercard of Miguel Cotto vs. Canelo Alvarez, but a leg injury forced Ward to withdraw from participation in the event.

Tickets priced at $300, $120, $90, $60 and $30, not including applicable service charges and taxes, go on sale Tuesday, June 28 at 5:00 p.m. PT and will be available at all Ticketmaster locations, online at Ticketmaster.com and charge by phone at (800) 745-3000.

Ward vs. Brand is a 12-round fight presented by Roc Nation Sports and sponsored by Corona Extra, the motion picture HANDS OF STONE: The True Story of Roberto Duran, Corporate Travel Management Solutions (ctms) and The Clorox Company, supporting the Bay Area Community for over 100 years.

“We can get it on, right now,” said Ward.  “August 6th, I will be ready, so come out to Oracle Arena or tune in live on HBO.  Don’t miss it.”

“It will be a great honor to face Andre Ward on August 6 and better yet in his own backyard,” said Brand.  “Fighting somebody with such an illustrious career, facing a guy that perhaps hasn’t lost a round in his entire life, is even more thrilling.  We were set to face each other last November, but he was forced to pull out of the fight with an injury. Now the time has come to fight him and I can’t wait to derail his future plans.  I’ll work hard to spoil them.”

“Andre Ward’s quest to become the best light heavyweight on the planet and boxing’s number one pound-for-pound fighter continues on August 6,” said David Itskowitch, COO of Boxing Roc Nation Sports.  “Alexander Brand has been waiting for this fight since last year and we have no doubt he is going to enter the ring hungry for a huge victory.  There’s a lot on the line in this fight for Andre who knows he can’t look past Brand towards a much discussed clash with Unified Light Heavyweight World Champion Sergey Kovalev.”

“Undefeated for the last two decades, technically brilliant and the last American man to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing, Andre Ward is one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world,” said Peter Nelson, Executive Vice President, HBO Sports.  “On August 6th, Andre continues his move up in weight to campaign in the 175-pound division against challenger Alexander Brand in front a hometown crowd at the Oracle.”