OAKLAND, Calif. -- Undefeated WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward (27-0, 14 KOs) has been inactive for 19 months. That streak ends on Saturday at the Oracle Arena, where he will meet Liverpool, England’s Paul Smith (35-5, 20 KOs).
It is the sixth hometown bout at Oracle for “S.O.G.” and represents Smith’s first trek out of the United Kingdom to fight in America. In the East Bay Area hidden by the 880 freeway wall, King’s Boxing Gym -- the facility which bred Ward into a gold medalist at the 2004 Olympics in Athens -- played host to the champion as he held court with the media on Tuesday, mere days before he returns to the ring.