NEW YORK (July 31, 2009)—Undefeated super middleweight Andre “S.O.G.” Ward will share the stage with his first Super Six World Boxing Classic™ opponent Mikkel “Viking Warrior” Kessler on a special Saturday primetime edition of ShoBox: The New Generation, on SHOWTIME.
Ward (19-0, 12 KOs) will tangle with Shelby Pudwill (22-3-1, 9 KOs) of McGlauglin, S.D., in a 10-round super middleweight scrap live from Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
The Ward fight will air immediately following Kessler’s World Boxing Association (WBA) super middleweight mandatory title defense against No. 1 ranked Gusmyl Perdomo (16-2, 10 KOs) of Turmero, Venezuela, which will air on same day tape delay from MCH Messecenter Herning – Herning, Denmark.
“There was no way we were going to allow Mikkel Kessler to have a showcase fight preceding his Super Six showdown with Andre, and not have the viewers on SHOWTIME witness our 2004 US Olympic gold medalist in action the same night,” Ward’s promoter Dan Goossen said. “Kessler may be the champion, but Andre Ward is coming to take that title and making history.”
Goossen is referencing the Group Stage 1 matchup of Ward vs. Kessler in the celebrated Super Six World Boxing Classic, Nov. 21, 2009, live on SHOWTIME. Ward-Kessler promises to be one of the most exciting fights of the year, pitting Team USA’s only Olympic Games gold medalist from Athens 2004 against Kessler (41-1, 31 KOs), of Copenhagen, Denmark, an early favorite in the tournament.
In his last fight on Dec. 6, 2008, Pudwill, 34, beat Anthony Osbourne in Mandan, N.D., with an eighth-round knockout. Inactive in all of 2007, Pudwill suffered a loss in his fight before Osbourne to John Duddy at Madison Square Garden in 2006.
Pudwill took eight straight wins into the Duddy fight and didn’t lose for almost five years in a time-span that dated from June 2001 to March 2006.
For more information on SHOWTIME Sports, including complete details on the Super Six World Boxing Classic, Strikeforce mixed martial arts telecasts, exclusive behind-the-scenes video and photo galleries, and more, please visit the website at http://sports.sho.com.