Boxing Scene reported In January 2016, Ward's light heavyweight debut was set against Cuban boxer Sullivan Barrera (17-0, 12 KOs) at the Oracle Arena. on March 26, 2016 on HBO. Barrera was risking his IBF mandatory position in this fight. Barrera became the mandatory to Kovalev's IBF title when he stopped German Karo Murat in December 2015. According to Ward, he wasn't moving up in weight for the money, but rather daring to be great. 8,532 fans packed the arena on fight night. En route to a wide unanimous decision victory, Ward dropped Barrera to the canvas in the third round as he turned a left hook while on the ropes. Barrera was also dropped in the eighth round from a body shot, but referee Raul Caiz Sr. saw it as a low blow and as a result deducted a point from Ward. Ward dictated the pace for the vast majority of the bout, showcasing good strength and ring generalship against Barrera. The three judges scored the fight 117–109, 119–109, and 117–108. Ward landed 166 from 463 thrown (36%) whilst Barrera landed 111 of 722 punches thrown (15%). When asked about the potential mega fight against Kovalev, Ward said, "It's never a problem. You look at my track record. I want to fight the best. I've always fought the best. Sergey Kovalev, he's a great champion." For the fight, Ward earned $1.85 million and Barrera earned a $450,000 purse. The fight averaged 1.064 million viewers and peaked at 1.152 million viewers.