HBO Boxing heads back to the Bay Area when WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: ANDRE WARD VS. ALEXANDER BRAND is seen SATURDAY, AUG. 6 at 10:35 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT) from Oracle Arena in Oakland, Cal., exclusively on HBO. The HBO Sports team of Jim Lampley, Max Kellerman, Bernard Hopkins and Harold Lederman will call the action, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.

Other HBO playdates: Aug. 7 (9:45 a.m.) and 8 (12:05 a.m.). HBO2 playdate: Aug. 7 (4:45 p.m.). The fight will also be available on HBO NOW, HBO GO and HBO On Demand.

Returning to his hometown, Andre Ward (29-0, 15 KOs) continues to pursue dominance in the 175-pound weight class, taking on Alexander Brand (25-1, 19 KOs) from Bogota, Columbia in a light heavyweight bout scheduled for 12 rounds. Originally slated for last November, the fight was postponed when Ward sustained an injury in training.

Ward, 32, has succeeded at every level, compiling a near-perfect record as an amateur, winning a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and enjoying a seven-year reign as super middleweight champ. He looked superb against challenger Sullivan Barrera in his 2016 debut last March, registering a unanimous decision victory. This will mark Ward’s seventh fight at Oracle Arena and sixth appearance on HBO. If he scores a victory, Ward is expected to seek another world title by fighting light heavyweight champ Sergey Kovalev in the fall.

Brand turned professional at age 32 after racking up more than 400 wins as an amateur. Now 39, he won his first 17 pro fights, 12 by knockout, and has been on an eight-victory run following his only ring loss, in 2012.

“I didn’t want to show too much at this media workout but I’ve got something in store for the day of the fight," Brand said. “It doesn’t really matter that the fight is in Ward’s hometown, it’s going to be a fight. Wherever it is, whether it’s in his backyard or anywhere else, I’m coming to fight and that’s the most important thing.

“It’s nothing new for me, I fought at 175 pounds in the amateurs. My last fight in December was at 175 pounds against an undefeated Russian when Andre Ward got hurt and couldn’t fight me on the Cotto-Canelo card.

“Whatever Ward brings, I’m going to have something for him. Ward still has 12 rounds to fight before he can think about Kovalev.”