Having had the stitches removed from a cut over his right eye suffered during a sparring session last week, WBA super middleweight titleholder Andre Ward is primed to resume his preparation for a Showtime-televised matchup with WBC beltholder Carl Froch. The fight has been rescheduled for Dec. 17 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.

Ward (24-0, 13 knockouts) will face Froch (28-1, 20 KOs) for the championship of the Super Six World Boxing Classic and THE RING’s vacant 168-pound belt, a clash that was originally slated for Oct. 29 at the same venue.

Ward-Froch was postponed after Ward received seven stitches for the injury, which was sustained during sparring session on Sept. 22.

The sutures were put in by California-based ringside doctor and plastic surgeon Dr. Paul Wallace, who also removed them on Friday in Los Angeles.

“Andre was very disappointed last week. But as disappointed as he was last week, he was a lot more jubilant this week. Dr. Wallace said that the injury had healed even better than he had anticipated,”  said promoter Dan Goossen.

“It looks great. So toward the end of October, he can start sparring again, and until then, he’ll do everything but get hit on that spot.”

On Friday, Ward wrote on his Twitter account, “Got the stitches out. Cut looks good, and is healing fine. The work never stops. December 17th…it’s go time!!”

“I told my promoter, the name of this fight should be ‘No Excuses,” said Ward during an exclusive interview with RingTV.com on Monday.

“Because if Carl Froch beats me, there will be no excuses from my side. I won’t blame the eye or anything. But when I beat Carl Froch, I expect the same from his side as well.”

Lem Satterfield can be reached at [email protected]