From Goossen Tutor Promotions:

Oakland's Own Andre Ward Ready to Pitch In

Two Weeks Before Hometown Hero Makes First WBA Defense Against Allan Green At Oracle Arena, He’ll Throw Out First Pitch At A’s Game Friday Night

OAKLAND (June 3, 2010) - Undefeated World Boxing Association (WBA) Super Middleweight Champion and America’s last Olympic Gold Medalist Andre Ward (20-0, 13 KOs) will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at his hometown Oakland A's game against the Minnesota Twins tomorrow/Friday, June 4, at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

Ward, who captured the WBA belt with a convincing, 11th-round technical decision over Mikkel Kessler in the Super Six World Boxing Classic opener on Nov. 21, 2009 at Oracle, is looking forward to taking the field.

"I'm excited for this opportunity to show my support to The Oakland A's,’’ Ward said. “They are my hometown team and I am a baseball fan!’’

Ward will make his first title defense against world-ranked contender Allan “Sweetness” Green (29-1, 20 KOs), of Tulsa, Okla., in a Super Six World Boxing Classic Group Stage 2 bout on Saturday, June 19, on SHOWTIME® at the Oracle Arena. Ward will look to successfully defend against the mouthy Green in front of his local fans and take another step toward winning the Super Six World Boxing Classic.

Tickets for the June 19 event are priced at $300, $150, $65 and $35 and are available at the Oracle Arena Box Office, 7000 Coliseum Way, Oakland, CA  94621, Phone:  (510) 569-2121 or online through www.Ticketmaster.com .

The Ward-Green event is presented by Goossen Tutor Promotions, Antonio Leonard Productions and DiBella Entertainment.

ABOUT SUPER SIX WORLD BOXING CLASSIC

The inaugural Super Six World Boxing Classic is a groundbreaking, six-fighter tournament from SHOWTIME Sports® featuring the class of the super middleweight (168-pound) division from around the world. All bouts in the Super Six tournament will be contested under the Unified Rules of Boxing. Each boxer fights three bouts against different opponents in the field in the points-based Group Stage of competition (Win – 2 pts with a 1-pt bonus for KO/TKO; Loss – 0 pts; Draw – 1 pt.). After the Group Stage, the four fighters with the highest point totals will advance to the single-elimination Semi-Finals. The winners of the Semi-Final bouts will advance to the Finals and fight for the inaugural Super Six World Boxing Classic trophy.