By Jake Donovan, photo by Hoganphotos

For as long as it took for terms to be reached for their March 26 showdown, Sullivan Barrera and his team made sure to have plenty of fun at Andre Ward's expense. Their light heavyweight non-title fight was formally announced on Tuesday, but was preceded by Barrera spending the better part of the buildup winning the Internet with hilarious cartoon captions mocking their talks.

Ward’s lone public response to the trash talk through social media carried the claim that Barrera would not get rich off of him, that the offer presented was ‘take it or leave it.’ It was all that the unbeaten contender from Cuba – who now lives in Miami – needed to build on, launching a series of illustrations, referring to Jay-Z – whose Roc Nation Sports banner signed Ward a year ago – as “JC Penney” (actually JCPenny) and insisting that Ward’s side was deliberately stalling.

“I did what I did with the goal of making the fight happen,” Barrera (17-0, 12KOs) insisted during a recent media conference call to discuss the HBO-televised fight, which takes place at Oracle Arena in Ward’s hometown of Oakland, California. “Now I have to know I have to get the job done.”

While there is not a title on the line in their specific fight, there is plenty at stake for both fighters – really the same goal in the form of a future collision with unbeaten, unified light heavyweight titlist Sergey Kovalev.

Barrera became the mandatory challenger to Kovalev’s International Boxing Federation (IBF) title with a 5th round knockout of Karo Murat last December. He is not necessarily next in line due to the rotation of mandatory challengers for Kovalev’s three belts, but nevertheless risks a guaranteed future shot versus a boxer who – at his best – is regarded among the very best in the world, regardless of weight class.

As for Ward (28-0, 15KOs), a mouthwatering showdown with Kovalev is in the works for later this fall, with both boxers agreeing to interim fights. His upcoming clash with Barrera marks his debut as a full-fledged light heavyweight, having last fought at a catchweight versus Paul Smith last June, ending a 19-month hiatus.

Prior to that, Ward reigned as the World super middleweight king, a distinction he earned with a 12-round win over Carl Froch in the Super Six World Boxing Classic finals way back in Dec. ’11. He’d won an alphabet title at the start of the tournament, scoring a decision win over Mikkel Kessler in Nov. ’09 in going on to run the tables.

The aftermath left a lot to be desired – wins over Chad Dawson and Edwin Rodriguez spread out over a two-year span, followed by an inactive period marred by a promotional lawsuit before returning to knock out Smith last June.

Now at stake is a dangerous collision with Kovalev, which he risks by facing a full-fledged light heavyweight in Barrera for his first official fight back in nine months and at a new weight.

In a sense, that takes some of the pressure off of Barrera. However, he literally talked his way into this fight, which leaves him on the hook to deliver in the ring, even if he doesn’t see it that way.

“Of course I believe I have to live up to expectations, but there is no added pressure,” Barrera believes. “I am a warrior. I'm fully prepared for Andre Ward. I highly respect him as a boxer and a great former world champion. But just like any other opponent I face, my goal is to destroy them (in the ring).

“With that in mind, my goal is to knock out Andre Ward.”

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox