Ward's next fight was announced on June 22, 2012 to take place at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California on September 8, 2012 against "The Ring" and lineal light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson. The fight, billed as "Ward vs. Dawson – World Champions – Made In America" took place at 168 lbs for Ward's super middleweight titles. Dawson was coming off a big win against future Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins in April. At the press conference, he said that it was his desire to drop down in weight and challenge Ward rather than fight lesser-known opponents at light heavyweight. Dawson started his career at super middleweight, but hadn't fought at the weight since February 2006.