tandard for goaltending right now. Just how smooth he is. I

Former super middleweight world champion Andre Ward has a contract in place to challenge light heavyweight titleholder Sergey Kovalev in the fall in one of the years biggest fights, but he has to take care of other business first to make that showdown a reality.Ward will face Alexander Brand in an HBO-televised bout on Aug. 6 at the Oracle Arena in Wards hometown of Oakland, California, Roc Nation Sports announced Tuesday.The scheduled 12-round light heavyweight fight is Wards final one before the Kovalev match, which is ticketed for Nov. 19 in the main event of an HBO PPV card at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.Ward, 32, was supposed to face Brand on Nov. 21 in Las Vegas in the co-feature of the Canelo Alvarez-Miguel Cotto middleweight world title fight. However, Ward, suffering from swelling in his knee during training camp, withdrew from the bout, which was supposed to be the first of his exclusive HBO contract.Andre Wards quest to become the best light heavyweight on the planet and boxings No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter continues on Aug. 6, said David Itskowitch, COO of Boxing Roc Nation Sports. Alexander Brand has been waiting for this fight since last year and we have no doubt he is going to enter the ring hungry for a huge victory.Theres a lot on the line in this fight for Andre, who knows he cant look past Brand towards a much-discussed clash with unified light heavyweight world champion Sergey Kovalev.When Ward (29-0, 15 KOs) returned from the knee problem to make his 175-pound debut on March 26, he did so against then-undefeated Sullivan Barrera, rather than Brand, and won a lopsided unanimous decision, 117-109 on all three scorecards.Still intending on having one more fight in order to get used to his new weight class before facing Kovalev, Ward needed an opponent for Aug. 6 and Brand (25-1, 19 KOs) got the call when deals for preferred opponents Nathan Cleverly (29-3, 15 KOs), a former light heavyweight world titleholder from Wales, and Swedish up-and-comer Erik Skoglund (25-0, 11 KOs) did not work out.We can get it on, right now, Ward said of Brand. Aug. 6th, I will be ready, so come out to Oracle Arena or tune in live on HBO. Dont miss it.After the fight with Ward, a 2004 U.S. Olympic gold medalist, was called off in November, Brand, 39, of Colombia, survived a first-round knockdown and won a 10-round split decision against then-unbeaten Medzhid Bektemirov on Dec. 5 in Kissimmee, Florida. Brands only loss was an eight-round split decision in 2012 to Badou Jack, who went on to win a super middleweight world title.It will be a great honor to face Andre Ward on Aug. 6 and better yet in his own backyard, said Brand, who has won eight fights in a row. Fighting somebody with such an illustrious career, facing a guy that perhaps hasnt lost a round in his entire life, is even more thrilling.We were set to face each other last November, but he was forced to pull out of the fight with an injury. Now the time has come to fight him and I cant wait to derail his future plans. Ill work hard to spoil them.Kovalev (29-0-1, 26 KOs), a 33-year-old Russia native living in Los Angeles, also has business to take care of before the Ward fight if officially on. He is scheduled to defend his three 175-pound world title belts against top-10 contender Isaac Chilemba (24-3-2, 10 KOs), 28, a native of Malawi who fights out of South Africa, on July 11 (HBO) in a homecoming fight at the DIVS Palace of Sports in Ekaterinburg, Russia.Cheap Sneakers Authentic . Belfort (24-10) needed just 77 seconds to down Henderson in the headlining bout of Saturdays "UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson" event at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Brazil. The fight served as a rematch of the pairs 2006 meeting, which Henderson won by decision. Cheap Sneakers Free Shipping . The CFLs leading rusher kept adding to his gaudy numbers this season and scored the winning touchdown with just over two minutes to play. The New Westminster, B.C., native plowed three yards into the end zone for the last score of a heated, see-saw battle between the two teams with the best records in the CFL. http://www.cheapsneakersfromchina.com/ . That left plenty of energy for pitching books and swatting away free agency questions. Anthony had 24 points and nine rebounds, and the Knicks avenged an embarrassing home loss with a rout of their own, beating the Boston Celtics 114-88 on Wednesday night for their third straight victory. Cheap Sneakers Fast Shipping . Nigeria beat surprise package Ethiopia 2-0 in the second leg of their playoff for a comfortable 4-1 aggregate victory. Victor Moses converted a 20th-minute penalty after an Ethiopian handball, and Victor Obinna made certain of Nigerias place in Brazil with his powerful free kick in the 82nd at UJ Esuene Stadium. Sneakers Outlet . The 18-year-old American had five birdies in her bogey-free round for a 17-under total of 196. Lee held the overnight lead but mixed three birdies with two bogeys for a 70.TORONTO -- During?Carey Prices Hart Memorial Trophy season for the Montreal Canadiens?two years ago, a rival coach said he felt like his team was already a goal down to the Habs before the puck even dropped -- because of No. 31 in the opposing net.That intimidating force is back. Price, 29, is healthy and as good as ever.Hes in a league of his own, I think, when it comes to any player,?Toronto Maple Leafs?center Tyler Bozak said this week of Price. Its just incredible what he can do. There is a little bit of an intimidation factor. Hes a guy who, when I come down one-on-one, its very tough to beat him. Ive talked to guys who have played with [Price], and they say they cant even score on him in practice.Hes just a guy you have to know when you go into a game that you got to get traffic, youre not going to score pretty goals, you have to get in front of the net, try to take away his eyes and not let him see it. Maybe bang home some rebounds or get some tips.Or do what the Florida Panthers did earlier this week, when they became only the second team all season to score four goals against Price -- get a few breaks. One of Floridas goals was a knuckler that bounced off the ice, and the overtime winner was a changeup off a broken stick by?Aaron Ekblad.Hey, whatever it takes against this guy.Price sports a .948 save percentage in 11 starts (10-0-1), including a 37-save effort in a 2-1 win over the Leafs on Oct. 29.Theyre rivals, yes, but theres clearly a lot of respect for Price in the Leafs dressing room.I dont want to give him too much credit; theyre our rivals, said Leafs goaalie Frederik Andersen with a smile.dddddddddddd But when hes on his game, hes pretty much the gold standard for goaltending right now. Just how smooth he is. I came into the league a little bit later and definitely watched him a lot. When youre on your game, thats how you want to look. For me, playing a somewhat similar a style to him, he makes it look easy and thats the goal for goalies. You dont want to have too many highlight-reel saves even though it looks spectacular. Youd rather be in position.It just so happens that the Leafs have a former Habs forward hanging around while he figures out his future. Veteran forward Brandon Prust?--?who played three years in Montreal, including during Prices MVP season in 2014-15 -- said theres no question the star goalie can affect a shooters approach.Hes got that presence back there. Maybe you try too much, you try to get that clear shot when you should just throw pucks on net like you do against other goalies you have success against, said Prust, an unrestricted free agent who is working out with the Leafs. Crash and bang and look for rebounds. Some guys maybe overthink against him when they should just do the same things.Thats what his advice would be to the Leafs players if they ask him about facing Price.All I would tell them is treat it like another goalie, Prust said. Its like when you struggle to score in general. Get back to basics, get shots on goal, go for rebounds. Dont try to overthink it. ' ' '