By Sean Jones: Saul Canelo Alvarez and WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade are in negotiations for a fight, according to Mike Coppinger. Canelo Alvarez’s negotiations with his IBF mandatory Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-1, 10 KOs) are now officially off. The two couldn’t agree on the money for the fight, so Canelo is moving on to face unbeaten Andrade (28-0, 17 KOs).
The advantages of Canelo fighting Andrade are obvious, as both guys are with DAZN. Derevyanchenko is with Premier Boxing Champions, and that would make things a little more complicated for Canelo. It’s easier for Canelo to fight Andrade, 31, than it would to deal with the headaches involved in facing a guy that fights on another platform. Andrade is an upgrade over Derevyanchenko. Some boxing fans think Gennady Golovkin was afraid to fight Andrade for his WBO title.
Saul Alvarez stripped of IBF title
Canelo has been stripped of his IBF middleweight title by the International Boxing Federation due to his negotiations with the 33-year-old Derevyanchenko passing the deadline. It’s no great loss for Canelo, because he can swing back later to fight for that belt later on against someone like Gennady Golovkin. Derevyanchenko’s chances of winning the vacant IBF title are slim if he faces Golovkin.
“BREAKING: Sources tell that negotiations between Canelo Alvarez and Sergey Derevyanchenko are now officially dead. Alvarez has been stripped of his IBF middleweight title after 3 p.m. ET deadline came and went. Sides couldn’t agree on money. Canelo Alvarez and Demetrius Andrade are now in serious talks for a middleweight unification bout on DAZN,” said @MikeCoppinger.
There’s arguably more for Canelo to gain in facing the unbeaten 2008 U.S Olympian Andrade than there would in him making a simple title defense against Derevyanchenko. In facing Andrade, Canelo can fight for his WBO title. In contrast to the once-beaten Derevyanchenko, who lost recently to Canelo victim Daniel Jacobs, Andrade has an unbeaten record going for him. That’s the positive. The negative is he’s a southpaw, completely defensive, and has no fan base to speak of.
Canelo will make Eddie Hearn happy in fighting Andrade
Andrade signed with British promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing USA, but he’s arguably been just going through the motions in trying to promote him. Hearn should be taking Andrade over to the UK to try and turn him into a star over there, but instead he’s been spinning his wheels in the U.S. Recently, Andrade looked poor in successfully defending his WBO title against Maciej Sulecki on June 29 on DAZN in Providence, Rhode Island.
Although Andrade won the fight by a wide set of scores, he ran out of gas, and looked horrible. If Sulecki had any punching power to speak of, he would have likely knocked Andrade out. The fight was painful to watch due to how boring Andrade made it. Canelo would potentially be helping Hearn out by fighting Andrade. Of course, it probably won’t end well for Andrade, who has terrible stamina, and an arguably a weak chin as well.
Canelo’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya makes a statement:
“We are extremely disappointed at the IBF for forcing the world’s best fighter to relinquish his world title,” said De La Hoya. “And we have been in serious negotiations with Sergiy Derevyanchenko’s promoter. We offered his team an unprecedented amount of money for a fighter of his limited stature and limited popularity, but the truth is that I’m now certain they never had any intention of making a deal. But instead they wanted to force us to relinquish Canelo’s belt.
This is an insult to boxing and more importantly an insult to the boxing fans of the world. This decision validates already existing concerns about the credibility of the IBF championship. Canelo inherited a mandatory challenger by defeating Daniel Jacobs, the man who beat Derevyanchenko, so to strip him of his title without giving him enough time to make the best fight possible is truly what is wrong with boxing, and I plan to aggressively consider all legal actions possible.”