Last weekend, Demetrius Andrade retained his 160-pound title with an easy win over Maciej Sulecki.
Critics would say it was typical Andrade. Start of fast. Score an early knockdown and then take the foot off the gas.
But what is lost in all this is Andrade’s boxing skill makes him one of the most avoided boxers in boxing. For all the bluster and bravado Oscar DeLa Hoya and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez purport, they aren’t in a hurry to make a fight with Andrade. Why? Because Andrade isn’t going to simply stand in front of Alvarez and let him punch him. Though he isn’t as great, the fear for Canelo’s camp would be Andrade would put together just as much of a brilliant plan as Sugar Ray Leonard did against Marvin Hagler.
The combination of movement in and out of the pocket would, undoubtedly, trouble Alvarez. Andrade would control the pace, something Alvarez gets away with when he fights a guy like Gennady Golovkin. That wouldn’t be the case with Andrade. Canelo would have to think in the ring and history has proven that’s not his strength. In his lost to Mayweather, he was outclassed. Yes, that was a long time ago but Alvarez was also gifted a win over Erislandy Lara, who used a similar gameplan.
One can argue, that Canelo is older and more skilled. Great. Then make the fight. He has a ten fight deal with DAZN. There’s plenty of room for fights to be made and not waited on. It’s obvious that his boss, DeLa Hoya, isn’t about to risk Alvarez losing to a fighter like Andrade. To the casual boxing fan, unlike a loss to Golovkin, that wouldn’t be acceptable. But, to the hardcore boxing fan, Andrade, more than Golovkin, would give Alvarez fits. A potential fight between the two falls into the old axiom “styles makes fights”.
Instead, we may never see it happen. As been reported by multiple outlets, Alvarez is looking at possible a fight against Callum Smith and Sergey Kovalev. That would mean Alvarez would be either moving up in weight or finding a catchweight. Then, of course, there’s the possibility of a third fight against Golovkin.
Andrade and Alvarez are both on DAZN that would seem to make the fight much easier to make but it’s obvious the “A-Side” doesn’t want to make the fight. That would leave Andrade out of the picture. Some have suggested that an Andrade-Jermall Charlo fight would be an excellent fight but there’s a huge promotion-network hurdle that would have to be settled. Charlo is coming off a dominant win over Brandon Adams.
As for fighting Golovkin, also a DAZN fighter, that probably won’t happen either. At this point in his career, it’s hard to see Golovkin being able to keep up with Andrade. It what people might build up as a “boring fight”, Andrade could easily use movement and angles to pile up rounds. If Golovkin has difficulty pinning Alvarez, there’s no way he will pin Andrade.
So as Andrade continues to pile up wins, don’t blame him for not getting a fight against a prime DAZN brand fighter. He’s a victim of being the most avoided man in boxing.
