Several big time boxing events are scheduled to air this Saturday, and none bigger than BET’s light heavyweight bout featuring the return of top pound-for-pound fighter Andre Ward after a layoff of 18 months. Ward is scheduled to face Britain’s Paul Smith at a catch weight of 172 lbs., and the former Olympic Gold Medal winner Ward is hoping to make an impact with a big performance.
The fact is that injuries and a contract dispute with his promoter have cost Ward almost two years of his prime, and he has been largely forgotten by the main stream public.
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The Premier Boxing Champions broadcast scheduled for Saturday night on NBC is headlined by a highly anticipated welterweight matchup between former world title-holders Shawn Porter and Adrien Broner. Broner (30-1) is a former three-division world champion, and held the WBA Welterweight title after beating light-hitting Paulie Malignaggi in June of 2013. Broner lost the belt in his next outing as he was beaten up and dropped by Argentina’s Marcos Maidana, and he has been slowly working his way back to the welterweight division since.
As for Porter (25-1-1), he held the IBF Welterweight Title until Blosing it Britain’s Kell Brook in a match he was favored to win, but was clearly outboxed. He too has been trying to work his way back after the loss, and in March he had a KO win over late replacement Erick Bone that did not help much. The winner of the Porter-Broner fight will certainly jump up the ladder.
Check out our latst video blog where we review the odds currently at the books for this weekend’s boxing.
