Demetrius Andrade’s contract with Matchroom expires after Zach Parker fight on May 21

By Boxing News - 03/25/2022 - Comments

By Sean Jones: Demetrius ‘Boo Boo’ Andrade’s contract with Matchroom Boxing will expire with his fight against Zach Parker on May 21st, according to promoter Eddie Hearn. Wow! Hearn is letting one of his best fighters go. Sean Jones is speechless.

After trying his best to get high-profile fights for Andrade, Hearn is giving up the ship and letting him go.

Hearn works with popular fighters like Gennady Golovkin, Canelo Alvarez, and Dmitry Bivol, so he can afford to let a talented guy like Andrade go.

“Just this fight. I expect this will be his last fight with Matchroom, to be honest with you,” said Eddie Hearn to Pro Boxing Fans about Demetrius Andrade’s contract expiring with the Zach Parker fight on May 21st.

“We’ve sort of worked the best we can for Demetrius Andrade without delivering the big fight he needed. We tried everything, and it’s not his fault but it’s not our fault either

As the saying goes, ‘All good things must come to an end.’ In Andrade’s case, it hasn’t been good because he’s been fighting lackluster opposition since he signed with Hearn.

Hearn admits that he’s been unable to get the fights that Andrade wants/needs since he signed with his company, and he feels he should move on.

Image: Demetrius Andrade's contract with Matchroom expires after Zach Parker fight on May 21

Hearn found out that slick, talented southpaws like Andrade tend to be avoided like the plague by the top fighters, and they’ll make any excuse under the sun to avoid fighting him.

Canelo Alvarez dismissed Demetrius, calling him a “horrible fighter,” and then turned around and fought Avni Yildirim, Caleb Plant, and Billy Joe Saunders.

Those are all fighters that Andrade would likely wipe the deck with, yet Canelo prefers to fight them rather than him.

Andrade will be taking on unbeaten Zach Parker (22-0, 16 KOs) on May 21st for the interim WBO super middleweight title at the Pride Park Stadium, Derby, UK.

Andrade is moving up to 168 to try and force undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez to fight him. If Andrade defeats Parker to capture the interim WBO title, he’ll be able to exert pressure on Canelo to fight him.

Hearn probably won’t be too happy if Andrade gets a title shot against Canelo after he leaves Matchroom, but oh well.

Sean Jones doubts that Canelo will elect to take a fight against the lanky 6’1″ southpaw Andrade because he’s capable of doing many of the same things that Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Erislandy Lara did in their battles against him. He’s not going to want to chance-it.

Canelo and his manager/trainer Eddy Reynoso carefully vet their opposition before pulling the trigger on fights. Hence, you see Canelo fighting paper champions like Saunders, Plant, Callum Smith, and Rocky Fielding. Even Bivol, he’s NOT the #1 guy, or even the #2 fighter at 175, but rather the #3 fighter, which you can argue is the sole reason Canelo picked him.

“I think after this fight, he should look at the options out there available to him,” Hearn said of Andrade. “If we have options available for him, we’ll present them. But we’ve been working really well together, but without any real benefit with each other if that makes sense,” said Hearn.

Surprisingly, Hearn would let go a fighter with Andrade’s talent, particularly when looking at the guys in his stable. Andrade would destroy Hearn’s prized welterweight Conor Benn if the two were to meet, yet Conor isn’t about to be dumped.

“He hasn’t been in the fights delivering for us, and we haven’t been delivering the big fights for him. So unless we can deliver those big fights, if someone else can, he should take that route and move on.

“We love Demetrius, but he’s at a stage in his career where he really needs the big fights. If he can land one, I’m sure he’ll work with us, but if someone else can land one, that’s something he should look at as well,” added Hearn about Andrade.

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