By Charles Brun: Eddie Hearn had some interesting things to say about Jermall Charlo, Demetrius Andrade, Saul Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin this weekend. For starters, Hearn states that WBC middleweight champion Charlo (29-0, 21 KOs) isn’t a true world champion after the WBC upgraded him from interim middleweight champion to the full champion last week.
The WBC announced this move on the same day they stripped Canelo of his WBC title and elevated him to Franchise middleweight champion. Hearn says Charlo isn’t the true WBC champion. Canelo is STILL the WBC middleweight champion, as far as he’s concerned. Since Charlo won the WBC title outside of the ring, Hearn doesn’t view him a a real champion. The WBC makes the rules though. So if they say Charlo is their new middleweight champion, then that’s the reality of the situation. Hearn might not like it, but that’s the way it is. Canelo is the Franchise champion
Hearn: Jermall Charlo is NOT a world champion
- “The biggest fight out there for Demetrius is GGG and Canelo,” said Hearn to Fighthype. “Jermall Charlo is not a world champion. He didn’t beat a world champion. He’s a good fighter, but he’s NOT a world champion. The WBC world champion is Saul Alvarez,” said Hearn.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Hearn sounds a little envious of the love that Charlo is receiving from boxing fans for his impressive 12 round unanimous decision win over Brandon Adams (21-3, 13 KOs) last Saturday night on Showtime World Championship Boxing at the NRG Arena in Houston, Texas. Charlo suffered a left hand injury in round two, and yet he was able to dominate a very skilled and brave fighter in Adams in winning by the scores 120-108, 120-108 and 119-109.
Jermall performed well, and showed a lot of variety with his offensive arsenal. He didn’t gas out late in the fight. In contrast, Andrade (28-0, 17 KOs) won a very dull 12 round unanimous decision over Maciej Sulecki last Saturday night at Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island. Although Andrade won the fight by a one-sided decision, he looked sloppy, timid and extremely tired in the last half of the fight. It was far from an impressive performance. Even one of DAZN’s commentators Chris Mannix was bold enough to point out that Andrade’ performance wasn’t good enough for him to lure superstars Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin to fight him. To some fans, Hearn sounded bitter, and jealous of the attention Charlo got from people after his splendid victory over Brandon Adams.
Hearn says DAZN will need to help encourage Canelo and GGG to fight Andrade
- “He’s just too good,” said Hearn about Demetrius Andrade. “I don’t think anyone is going to want to fight him. I’d love to tell you that Canelo is going to fight him. Golovkin is going to fight. It’s going to be difficult. He’s going to need the fans. It’s going to need DAZN. I would have probably liked to have seen him jump on Sulecki [in the first round] recklessly, but that’s not how he does things. He’s an artist, and his fights are the sweet science,” said Hearn.
If Hearn complains to DAZN long and hard, they might help him get Canelo and Golovkin to BOTH agree to face Andrade. Since all three fighters are signed with DAZN, Hearn could complain to the streaming giant to have them step in to help him get Canelo and Golovkin to both fight Andrade. It’s unclear whether Canelo and Golovkin realized that when they signed with DAZN that they would potentially be fighting other middleweights and super middleweights signed with the same company. They had no know that going in when they signed with DAZN. They might have realized at the time that Andrade was one of the DAZN fighters, and they might have to fight him.
It would look weak on Hearn’s part if he tries to get DAZN to help him persuade Canelo and Golovkin to fight Andrade, but it looks like he’s going to do it anyway. Ideally, Andrade should at least try to fight in a more entertaining manner to get the more popular fighters to want to face him, but he’s probably not going to do that. Andrade has been fighting the same way since he turned pro in 2008, and he’s not going to change his negative style of competing now. This is as good as good as it gets with Andrade.
Hearn calls what Andrade does, ‘The Sweet Science.” It doesn’t look that way. It’s more of a spoiling type of fighting style, and it works against certain fighters that are afraid to pressure him. Sulecki looked like he was petrified after he got dropped in round one. Surprisingly, Sulecki didn’t spot how tired Andrade got in the second half of the fight, and he failed to go after him. A good fighter like Golovkin and Canelo would have seen how weak and tired Andrade was late in the fight.
Andrade has a fighting style which is arguably pure spoiling, and is very similar to Billy Joe Saunders’ negative style. Demetrius is the type of fighter that would never get a fight against a star like Canelo and Golovkin if not for him having signed with the same company. Andrade’s fighting style is negative, too boring, and involves too much running to get the popular fighters to volunteer to fight him. It’s likely that Canelo and Golovkin will give DAZN some resistance if they try and insist that they fight Demetrius, because they won’t help their careers by facing him. Andrade will spoil to such an extent that Canelo and Golovkin will look bad chasing him around the ring for 12 rounds.
There are no winners when entertaining fighters face defensive boxers that spoil the way Andrade does. His fight against Sulecki last Saturday was entertaining for just one round, the first. After round one, Andrade fought defensively the remainder of the fight, and it was hard to watch for this writer. If Hearn can get Andrade to change his fighting style, then perhaps he’ll get Canelo or GGG to agree to fight him, but it’s already too late. Hearn wants Canelo or Golovkin to fight Andrade next, and that’s asking a lot of them.
Hearn says he doesn’t know anyone that can beat Andrade
- “Demetrius Andrade is one of those guys that is avoided in the division, because he’s that good. I don’t know who can beat him,” said Hearn. “I don’t think anyone can. That’s a great fight [Andrade vs. GGG]. I rate GGG. He’s an amazing fighter. Golovkin has the power to end anyone, but not Canelo. Demetrius is so skillful. He hardly got hit tonight by Maciej Sulecki. He’s a skillful fighter. He’s #1 with the WBO. He gave [Daniel] Jacobs a good fight. He and [Gabriel] Rosado had a war,” said Hearn.
If Hearn is serious about his opinion that there’s no one that can beat Andrade in the middleweight division, then it’s not all that surprising that he’s pushing Canelo and Golovkin to face him. However, if this is a situation where Hearn just wants GGG and Canelo to face Andrade because it’ll make his Matchroom Boxing USA company a lot of money, then another thing. It would be more about business. There’s money to be made if Canelo and Golovkin fight Andrade.
In looking at it from a sporting angle, Andrade would have very little chance of beating Canelo or Golovkin. They’re smart enough to know that Andrade doesn’t react well when getting hit hard, and he gasses out in the second half of his fights. Sulecki lacked the ring IQ to understand how tired Andrade was. Canelo and Golovkin would go after Andrade, and chase him around the ring until they finish him. It might be a little embarrassing to watch if Andrade turns his back and runs like he did against Sulecki in one instance in the middle of the fight.
Hearn doesn’t want Dillian Whyte to fight for WBC title if Deontay Wilder is made Franchise champion
- “Yeah, of course, because Dillian Whyte is going to be mandatory or Deontay Wilder,” said Hearn in discussing his concerns whether the World Boxing Council will make Wilder a Franchise champion. “We don’t want to fight for the WBC world title belt if Deontay Wilder moves up to Franchise champion. So we’ll see what happens,” said Hearn.
The WBC hasn’t indicated that they’re going to appoint Deontay Wilder their new Franchise champion. Hearn is saying that Dillian Whyte won’t be interested in fighting for the WBC title if Wilder is moved to the Franchise champion. That could mean that Hearn is worried that Whyte would be forced to fight Luis Ortiz for the vacant WBC title if Wilder is Franchise tagged. Whyte and Hearn have shown no interest in putting a fight together with Ortiz. It would look like a ducking move if Whyte chooses not to fight Ortiz if the WBC makes Wilder their Franchise champion, and orders Dillian to fight Ortiz. Whyte chose not to fight Ortiz last year when the WBC ordered them to fight in a secondary title eliminator to decide the mandatory for Wilder.
Juan Francisco Estrada to fight Kal Yafai after his August 24th fight
- “He’ll box on August 24th, and then we’ll look to put him in with Kal Yafai in a unification fight,” said Hearn about WBC super flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada. “He [Yafai] damaged his hand and his ears, but he’ll be okay for later this year,” said Hearn about Yafai’s grueling foul-filled fight with Norbelto Jimenez last Friday. “We’ll see if Estrada can win on August 24, then we’ll look to do the fight,” said Hearn.
Hearn is looking to setup a fight between WBC super flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada (39-3, 26 KOs) and WBA 115 pound champion Kal Yafai (26-0, 15 KOs) after Estrada’s next fight on August 24. He’s not expected to fight anyone risky for his next fight in August. Matchroom Boxing USA signed a co-promotional deal Estrada, 29, this past week, and Hearn wants to put him in with Yafai, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez. He also wants to match Yafai with some of those guys as well. However, it might not be as interesting to see Yafai in with the likes of Rungvisai and Chocolatito if he loses to Estrada first. Yafai looked terrible in beating Norbelto Jimenez (29-9-4, 16 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision last Saturday night on the undercard of the Andrade vs. Sulecki card in Providence, Rhode Island. There was a lot of low blows, and rabbit punching from Yafai. The low blows really did a number on Jimenez.
Vasiliy Lomachenko vs. Luke Campbell contracts being finalized this week
- “We’re just finalizing contracts now. So we’ve got to get that done next week, and then we’ll finish that up and announce it,” said Hearn in talking about the negotiations for the Luke Campbell vs. Vasiliy Lomachenko fight. “It looks like August 31 in London.”
Hearn is ready to finalize the deal this week for WBA/WBO lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko (13-1, 10 KOs) to face #1 WBC Luke Campbell (21-2, 16 KOs) for the vacant WBC 135 pound title on August 31 in London, England. The WBC did a rare thing in allowing the two-belt champion Lomachenko to fight Campbell for the vacant WBC title rather than one of the top contenders in the top 15 rankings with the sanctioning body. Campbell has very little chance of beating Lomachenko.
Hearn: De La Hoya is probably under pressure over Canelo not fighting GGG next
- “I think it relations to the Chris Mannix podcast I did,” said Hearn about Oscar De La Hoya sending a Tweet to him over his comment about Canelo possibly face Kovalev next. “People ask me about Canelo. Oscar doesn’t like when I talk about Canelo. I’m not trying to interfere. I’m just giving my take on the situation.
- “He said, ‘It’s none of your business. Stay out of it. Worry about Joshua-Ruiz. I hear there’s problems,’ which is absolutely not true by the way. He’s [De la Hoya] probably under pressure. We know what DAZN wants. Everybody knows GGG against Canelo was agreed. So now that obviously that looks like it’s not going to happen. Somebody asked me about it, and I gave my opinion. The fact that he’s not happy about my opinion means he’s under a bit of pressure,” said Hearn.
Hearn says Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya told him that the choice of opponent for Saul Canelo Alvarez’s next fight is none of his business. Last Friday, Hearn made news when he told Chris Mannix on his podcast that he thinks that Canelo will be fighting WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev in September rather than Gennady Golovkin, Demetrius Andrade or Callum Smith. Hearn thinks De La Hoya is starting to feel pressure from DAZN due to Canelo possibly not fighting GGG in September. DAZN wants Canelo to face Golovkin, but the Mexican star reportedly is interested in fighting Kovalev next.