By Allan Fox: Eddie Hearn used s shotgun approach to Demetrius Andrade in asking him if he’s open to fighting Billy Joe Saunders, Jermall Charlo or Sergiy Derevyanchenko in his next fight. To all three of them, the WBO middleweight champion Andrade (29-0, 18 KOs) said, ‘yes.’
Andrade isn’t hesitant to take on any of those fighters, but he obviously has a preference. He’d like the unification fight against WBC middleweight Charlo, but that’s a match-up that has proven difficult to make. That’s not to say it won’t ever happen, but it’s not looking promising for the Charlo fight to take place. That would be a $7 million payday for Andrade against Jermall.
Matchroom promoter Hearn needs Andrade to be as flexible as possible for him to get a worthwhile opponent, due to the top guys – Canelo Alvarez, Gennadiy Golovkin and Charlo – not showing interest in fighting him.
Andrade is very interested in moving up to 168 to challenge WBO super middleweight champion Saunders (29-0, 14 KOs) if he fails to get the fight with Canelo next.
Andrade explains why he’s being avoided
Hearn: “Every once in a while you represent a fighter that is so difficult to land a major fight for,” said Hearn on Instagram. “They’ve said before, ‘He just doesn’t have the activity.’ All of a sudden we’ve got you active. ‘He just doesn’t sell tickets.’ All of a sudden, we go over to Providence and he sells 9,000 tickets. It’s wild.
“The excuses are running out. Why is it do you think people don’t want to fight you? Is that a stupid question or is it the style? And is it something that we don’t know. Is it a rumor in the game. You can’t beat Demetrius Andrade,” said Hearn.
Andrade: “You’ve to look at it like it’s a business,” said Andrade in explaining why he’s not getting the major fights. “That person Canelo or somebody with the contract. you know how contracts go. When you lose, your money goes down. So why are they going to take the risk of fighting Demetrius Andrade when there’s a chance of them losing and they have to start over again.
“But if you’re good and you’re Canelo, GGG, Billy Joe Saunders or whoever you are or the Charlo brothers, if you’re good and you lose to the better man Demetrius Andrade, you can still be one of the top guys.
“You just lost to one of the best guys. That’s it, and that’s how I look at it, you know? I’m willing to put my talent against anyone in the division and let the people see what they wanted, the best against the best,” said Andrade.
Demetrius is quite right about why the top fighters don’t want to fight him. If he beats Canelo, Charlo or Golovkin, their popularity will drop off, and that means less money.
Saunders has a shot against Canelo
Hearn: “Do you rate Canelo, arguably you’re going to say you’re the best at 160, but outside of you, do you rate Canelo?” said Hearn to Andrade. “Do you think Billy Joe can beat him?”
Andrade: “If he comes in and does what he has to do, yeah,” said Andrade in saying that Saunders could potentially beat Canelo. “Everybody can be beaten. It’s a 50-50 thing every time you step in the ring. That’s how I look at it. For me, for anybody. Yeah, anybody, can be beaten, man,” said Andrade.
It’s interesting that Hearn bothered to ask Andrade on his thoughts about Saunder’s chances against Canelo Alvarez. With the suspension that Saunders received from the British Boxing Board of Control on Monday for his video that he posted recently where he’s talking about how men can beat their women, he might not be getting the Canelo fight.
Saunders does have a shot at beating Canelo, but not a good one. The fight is supposed to be taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada, and that could make it difficult for Saunders to get a decision in the eyes of some boxing fans.
Andrade willing to fight Derevyanchenko
“Hearn: There are a couple of questions that have come in about Sergiy Derevyanchenko. When I look at planning in your future, what we all want is the biggest fights. Preferably the unification fights. Obviously, Derevyanchenko put up a great fight against Gennadiy Golovkin last time out.
“A super, super close decision that could have gone either way. Do you like that fight against Derevyanchenko? I think style-wise as well. It could be a great fight for you,” said Hearn to Demetrius.
Andrade: “Yeah, I asked for that fight before,” said Andrade on a fight between him and Derevyanchenko. “I don’t have a problem with fighting anybody in the division. I’m already fighting anybody.
“Whoever is willing to get in with me. I’m not sitting here picking and choosing anybody. I would like to fight the well-known popular guys out there, but that’s not the case. But if you’d put Derevyanchenko in with me, I’d definitely want to take that fight,” said Andrade.
It would be a tough fight for Andrade to take on Derevyanchenko, but perhaps he might have the right style to beat him in a dominant fashion. Daniel Jacobs and Gennadiy Golovkin both had a lot of problems beating Derevyanchenko. If this is the same fighter that almost beat GGG last October, Andrade will need to fight all out for him to hold onto his WBO middleweight title.
Andrade ready for Liam Williams fight
Hearn: “Over here in the UK there are a lot of people, and it’s probably gone a little bit under the radar with what’s going on, but obviously we know you have a mandatory due, which is Liam Williams,” said Hearn to Andrade. “Quite a lot of people in the UK are getting excited about that fight.
“Liam Williams is on a good run right now, he’s an aggressive fighter, and he had a good performance last time out against Alantez Fox. What’s your thoughts on that fight and what’s your thought on Liam Williams?” said Hearn.
Andrade: “I think you said this last time with Luke Keeler, and you seen what ended with that fight,” said Andrade. “Liam Williams, kudos to him. I’m happy for any fighter climbing the ladder and making their way to fight for a championship title.
“That’s what he proved to do to get in the ring and get in the ring for a WBO shot with Demetrius Andrade, myself. Let’s go. It’s all good. I’m not knocking anybody hustle, but he’s not going to be the one to stop this train,” said Andrade.
Williams is likely to be Andrade’s next fight if only because he’s his WBO mandatory. The fight will take place once boxing restarts unless the WBO gives Andrade the option of facing another opponent. If Andrade moves up to 168 and beats Saunders, he can then vacate his WBO 160-lb title and stay up there.
Jermall Charlo fight interests Demetrius
Hearn: “There’s a lot of talk about a Charlo fight. Is that a fight for you right now, a unification fight, WBC world title. What’s your message to Charlo?” said Hearn to Andrade.
Andrade: “They say their the best, and I say I’m the best and I’m willing to put that in action,” said Andrade when asked by Hearn if he wants to fight Jermall Charlo. “So it has to be the other way around. All I can do is keep doing what I’ve been doing by winning.
“Whatever fighter that comes upon and we can make it happen, we do what we do, and we’re undefeated and we’re winning and I’m doing it in style and I’m doing a different performance every time I step into the ring,” said Andrade.
Jermall (29-0, 22 KOs) is with PBC and fights on Showtime. He’s not shown a real motivation to fight Andrade, and the fact that he’s on a different network makes the fight unlikely to happen.
Hearn has tried to lure Charlo to sign a one-fight deal with DAZN to fight on their network against Andrade, and then potentially face Canelo if he wins. Hearn’s efforts at getting the fight with Charlo has been fruitless. The fight with Andrade doesn’t appeal to Charlo enough for him to take it.
Andrade open to moving to 168 for big fight
Hearn: “What’s your position in terms of your weight? We know you’re a huge middleweight. We also know you won world championships at 154 as well.
“You’re a two-weight, three-time world champion. Are you comfortable still at 160? How long do you see that or is there a case that there’s a big fight at 168 and you just jump up and take that as well?” said Hearn to Demetrius.
Andrade: “Yeah, I wanted to fight Billy Joe next for the WBO,” said Andrade. “That was perfect. I don’t know what’s going on with this Canelo thing. The Coronavirus has put a damper on boxing and sports and the world. Yes, I would love to go up to 168 and fight Billy Joe,” said Andrade.
Moving up to 168 would put Andrade in the position to fight a number of good opponents. These are some of the fights that Andrade could potentially get at 168:
- Billy Joe Saunders
- Daniel Jacobs
- Callum Smith
- David Benavidez
- Caleb Plant
- Chris Eubank Jr.
Eddie talks Andrade fighting Saunders or Williams
Hearn: “So that could be the move for you. Maybe Liam Williams next or Billy Joe Saunders and then maybe we work something out to move straight to 168 and fight Billy Joe if you don’t get Canelo,” said Hearn.
“Yes, you already know. Make it happen,” said Andrade about him fighting Canelo or Saunders after Williams fight. “Put me in there with anybody. It doesn’t matter who it is. Line them up and I’ll be there,” said Andrade.
Andrade: “I think I’ve seen him fight when I was going to fight Billy Joe back until whatever happened,” said Andrade when asked if he rates Chris Eubank Jr. “I looked at that fight to see how Billy Joe took on some pressure, but that was the only fight I’ve actually seen of Chris Eubank,” said Andrade.
Saunders would be a great fight for Andrade, given that it would draw a lot of interest from the UK boxing fans. If they stage the fight in the UK, they would have a lot of fans watching on television if not live. Saunders has never seemed all that interested in fighting Andrade, and it’s easy to see why. He’s a bad style match-up for him.
