Andre Ward has opted to undergo surgery on his right shoulder to repair a nagging November sparring injury, effectively cancelling his already postponed matchup against Kelly Pavlik.
Originally scheduled for January 26, the fight was then moved to March 2 to allow time for Ward to recover. Although the specifics of the injury have not been disclosed, Ward’s camp has confirmed to ESPN that the injury is not a tear and there is no damage to the rotator cuff.
At press time, Kelly Pavlik’s camp will try to keep the date with a replacement opponent. The tentative co-feature is a heavyweight WBC title eliminator between Chris Arreola and Bermane Stiverne.
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Kelly Pavlik should consider himself lucky. This fight would have been a slaughter (visualize what Bernard Hopkins did to Kelly, but it being done by a younger version). Nonetheless, I commend Pavlik for his guts because he was the one who pushed for the fight over the objections of his manager Cameron Dunkin. It’s too bad Carl Froch is tied up with mandatories because he and Pavlik would by a highlight entertaining an brutal fight.
As for Ward, I’m really intrigued about the exact nature of his ailment. Think I’ll spend the next hour researching athlete shoulder injuries…
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 