By Dan Ambrose: Promoter Eddie Hearn says he would like to set up a unification fight between WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade and Gennadiy Golovkin or Jermall Charlo next in 2021, but it’s not looking good.
IBF 160lb champion Golovkin is waiting to face WBA champion Ryota Murata in December in Japan, and there’s not enough time for him to fight Andrade in October.
As far as WBC 160-lb champion Jermall Charlo, Hearn spoke to his manager Luis Decubas to let him know that he’s interested in setting up a fight with Andrade (30-0, 18 KOs).
Decubas told Hearn that he would pass the information along to Jermall’s management team at PBC. In the meantime, Andrade needs to get back in back in the ring in October.
Andrade hasn’t fought since his successful title defense against the heavy-handed WBO mandatory Liam Williams last April.
Golovkin to fight Murata in December
“When you look at Demetrius, the focus there was to try and make the unification fight with Gennadiy Golovkin or more particularly [Jermall] Charlo,” said Eddie Hearn to the DAZN Boxing Show.
“In terms of Gennadiy Golovkin, he’s kind of got his mindset on [Ryota] Murata in December, but I think he’d [GGG] like to fight before.
“But now we’re approaching September in a couple of weeks. Not this year,” said Hearn when asked about the possibility of Canelo Alvarez vs. Golovkin 3 in 2021.
“Gennadiy appears to have his mindset on Murata in Japan in December,” said Hearn.
It probably doesn’t matter that Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs) is facing Murata in December. Even if that fight weren’t happening, likely, GGG wouldn’t be interested in facing Andrade.
Golovkin appears to be taking exclusively safe fights against guys that don’t present much of any threat to him.
We’re seeing that trend played out repeatedly by GGG since 2018, with him matched against Kamil Szeremeta, Steve Rolls, Sergiy Derevyanchenko, and now Murata.
Golovkin would likely reject the idea of a fight with Andrade, even if he had no fights scheduled.
It’s good for Golovkin that he’s taking safe fights but bad for the boxing public and DAZN because they’re not seeing him take risks against guys like Charlo and Andrade.
Demetrius Andrade to fight in October
“I did reach out to [manager] Luis Decubas about a number of different fights, and I said, ‘Look, what do we got to do to make Charlo against Andrade?'” said Hearn about wanting to make a fight between Andrade and Jermall Charlo.
“Two undefeated American middleweights. How many times do I got to say it? I love Luis, but he’s not the main player in the Charlo [management team]. He just said, ‘I’ll pass it on.’
“It’s so frustrating. We’re speaking to Demetrius, but we got to get him out again.
“It’s the same old story. We want all these fights, but if these guys won’t fight him, we got to keep him active, and that’s something we’ve done quite well. I think we’ll see Demetrius fight in October,” said Hearn.
It’s going to require a little magic on Hearn’s part to find a suitable opponent for Demetrius to defend his WBO middleweight title against in October. Lately, Andrade has faced lackluster opposition in Liam Williams, Luke Keeler, Artur Akavov, and Maciej Sulecki.
Yeah, Hearn is keeping Andrade busy, but look at the guys he’s facing. These fighters are no better than the opposition that Golovkin has been milking his contract with since 2019.
It would be a nice change of pace if Hearn matched against Andrade against one of these fighters in October:
- Chris Eubank Jr
- David Benavidez
- David Morrell Jr
- Jaime Munguia
- Jermall Charlo
- Jermell Charlo
- Juan Macias Montiel