Oakland’s Andre Ward (30-0, 15 KO) in a light heavyweight mulligan against Alexander Brand (25-2, 19 KO) of Bogota, treated an adoring hometown crowd at Oracle Arena to a solid decision win, the judges’ scorecards a uniform 120-108.
The pair were originally slated to face each other as the co-feature on last November’s Cotto-Canelo; Ward withdrew, however, due to inflammation of his right knee.
Despite the respite, Ward -- also coming off a decision win against Sullivan Barrera in March -- appeared not to skip a beat as he gained control in the early stanzas, keeping Brand at bay with a razor-sharp jab and methodically dismantling the tough Colombian with a steady series of well-placed body shots. Brand, though valiant in his efforts, simply couldn’t contain Ward’s composed assault.
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Largely considered an appetizer for a mega-fight against IBF/WBO/WBA light heavyweight kingpin Sergey Kovalev, Ward’s dominant performance over Brand sealed the deal, November 19 tabbed for the heavily anticipated matchup.