Andre Ward spoke to HBO’s Jim Lampley before Sergey Kovalev took on Jean Pascal at the Bell Centre in Montreal. The former super middleweight kingpin confirmed that he will return to the ring on March 26 against Sullivan Barrera and said that a superfight against light heavyweight titleholder Kovalev on HBO Pay-Per-View in November “is a fight that is going to happen.”

Ward said he hadn’t signed the contract for the March 26 fight but that it’s a foregone conclusion it will happen.

“Right now I don’t have any paperwork but I think it’s pretty much done,” Ward said. “So the paperwork should be coming in any day now so March 26 in Oakland at Oracle Arena, that’s where it’s going to go down.”

He was similarly confident about facing Kovalev down the road.

“Yeah definitely, this is a fight that is going to happen,” he said. “I think it’s a fight that the fans want and it’s a fight that should happen in each division. The best against the best. I have to prove that I can compete against the best in this weight class. In the end we have to keep winning and if we do, it’s not a matter of if but when.”

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