By Keith Idec

FRISCO, Texas – Andre Ward will be in Sergey Kovalev’s line of sight Saturday night.

Ward will be as close to the ring for Kovalev’s immediate rematch with Eleider Alvarez as possible without actually standing in it. BoxingScene.com has learned Ward will move from his usual position during ESPN telecasts – at an elevated desk, away from the ring – to ringside to call the Alvarez-Kovalev fight from ringside.

Ward will join Joe Tessitore, ESPN’s blow-by-blow announcer, and fellow former champion Timothy Bradley to provide expert analysis of the second bout between Alvarez and Kovalev. Essentially, Ward will switch seats with regular ESPN commentator Mark Kriegel for the Alvarez-Kovalev rematch to make best use of Ward’s personal experience with Kovalev.

The undefeated Ward beat Kovalev by eighth-round technical knockout in their immediate rematch in June 2017 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Ward was well on his way to winning that fight, but the result has generated great debate because referee Tony Weeks stopped the action after Ward landed multiple questionable blows to Kovalev’s body in succession.

The 34-year-old Ward (32-0, 16 KOs), who retired 16 months ago atop most credible pound-for-pound lists, previously edged Kovalev by 12-round unanimous decision in November 2017 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The 12-round, 175-pound title match that’ll pit Alvarez against Kovalev will headline an ESPN+ stream set to start at midnight ET/9 p.m. PT from Ford Center at The Star, the Dallas Cowboys’ practice facility.

The Colombian-born, Quebec-based Alvarez (24-0, 12 KOs) knocked out Russia’s Kovalev (32-3-1, 28 KOs) in the seventh round of their August 4 fight in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Kovalev, 35, was winning that fight on all three scorecards – 59-55, 59-55 and 58-56 – when Alvarez hurt him with a right hand that floored Kovalev. The former champion got up, only to have Alvarez drop him twice more.

Referee David Fields stopped the action at 2:45 of the seventh round.

ESPN’s coverage is set to begin with five undercard fights on ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. Following those fights, coverage will switch to ESPN at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

The ESPN portion of the show will include two fights.

The first ESPN encounter will match Ghana’s Richard Commey (27-2, 24 KOs) against Russia’s Isa Chaniev (13-1, 6 KOs) in a 12-round fight for the vacant IBF lightweight title. The second ESPN bout is another 12-rounder – Mexico’s Oscar Valdez (24-0, 19 KOs) versus Italy’s Carmine Tommasone (19-0, 5 KOs) for Valdez’s WBO featherweight crown.

Following Valdez-Tommasone, the show will switch back to ESPN+ at midnight ET/9 p.m. PT for two more fights.

In the first bout on ESPN+, rapidly advancing lightweight contender Teofimo Lopez (11-0, 9 KOs) is set to face fellow Las Vegas resident Diego Magdaleno (31-2, 13 KOs) in a 10-rounder. The Alvarez-Kovalev rematch will immediately follow Lopez-Magdaleno.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.