32-year-old Liverpudlian Paul Smith will step into the ring in California on the 20th of June to face a formidable opponent, who has not lost since he was 13.
Andre Ward has not fought for 19 months and has had Smith hand-picked for this bout as it is believed to be an easy fight to shake off the ring rust. There will be no title challenge here from Smith, for him it is purely about getting into the ring with the best he can, and giving his all to silence his critics.
Whichever side of the fence you are on for this bout, it will surely be an intriguing on for numerous reasons; how will Ward look after so long out, can Smith give another brilliant account of himself, can Ward ease past the Brit and finally, could there even be an upset on the cards?
As soon as the fight was announced, people took to social media slating Smith for taking such a fight, but not necessarily taking to slating Ward. Okay, Smith has fought at domestic level for the majority of his career, but he gave an excellent showing against Arthur Abraham in Germany - the only disappointment of that night was the judges. Cue a rematch and you could tell straight away that Abraham was now taking it seriously, he knew he severely underestimated the man from Liverpool the first time around and he was, arguably, lucky to be on his home turf on that night. Abraham won the second bout hands down. But the fact remained, Smith had again made a statement, whilst not as big as the first fight, he was still impressive.
Whilst you will not find Arthur Abraham in any boxing fans' P4P list, why should the difference between Abraham and Ward leave many to forget that Ward could well be susceptable to what almost caused an upset for Abraham in Germany. The simple matter of completely underestimating the man you are getting into the ring with.
Fair play to Smith, he has consistently pointed out and acknowledged he is undisputedly the 'underdog' going into the fight, he has also, continually played down his chances - stating what a test it will be on the night, but a test he couldn't turn down, saying to The Daily Mail: "I would be a fool not to take it."
Although many expect to see Ward try to win convincingly, you would have to assume he would like it to go the full distance to aid his comeback to the ring. Again, this could be detrimental to him mentally if he is focused on seeing the end of the 12th round. Neither man possesses a particular strong punch, and Smith will know his best chance will be to somehow stop the man who has never lost, whilst Ward knows all he has to do is get in the ring and do what everyone knows he is more than capable of.
If he does that, then, regardless of what Smith conjures up on the night - it will be another notch for the American come Saturday night - and another almost moment for Smith.