Super middleweight champion Andre Ward has suffered an injury to his right shoulder in training and will likely be forced to postpone his Jan. 26 defense against Kelly Pavlik at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, sources confirmed with CSNBayArea.com.
Ward (26-0, 14 KOs), an Oakland native and reigning Fighter of the Year, was slated to headline an HBO-televised bout against Pavlik (40-2, 34 KOs), the former undisputed middleweight champion. There has been no word yet regarding the status of the rest of the card, except that the main event will be moved to either late February or early March.
Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix initially reported the story on Wednesday night.
CSN Bay Area Boxing Insider Ryan Maquiñana is a voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and panelist for Ring Magazine’s Ratings Board. E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com, check out his blog at Norcalboxing.net, or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.
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