Youngstown native Kelly Pavlik's first world title shot since losing the middleweight championship in 2010 has been delayed, as super middleweight champion Andre Ward suffered a right shoulder injury that has pushed his defense against Pavlik back.
The fight was originally scheduled to take place Jan. 26 at the Galen Center on the campus of USC in Los Angeles.
The initial new target date for the fight is Feb. 23 at the same site.
Ward (26-0, 14 KOs) is regarded as one of boxing's top pound-for-pound fighters and was scheduled to make his sixth title defense against Pavlik. He has had trouble with the shoulder for years, but nothing serious enough for a fight to be postponed.
Pavlik (40-2, 34 KOs) won the middleweight title in 2007 from Jermaine Taylor before losing it in 2010 to current champion Sergio Martinez.
The co-main event of the show also is postponed, which was a world heavyweight title elimination fight between Chris Arreola (35-2, 30 KOs) and Bermane Stiverne (22-1-1, 20 KOs), with the winner becoming the mandatory challenger for WBC titleholder Vitali Klitschko.
