Demetrius Andrade has been head-hunting, but unfortunately for the current WBO light middleweight champion, the only thing he has been able to take a whiff at, has been hydrogen. Like all fighters, Andrade does not want to fight a natural element of the earth. An element that feels no pain, but he wants to inflict pain on a human that has approximately 9.5 percent of hydrogen in him. In this case, it’s Jermell Charlo.
Andrade (21-0, 14 KO’s) has not fought since June 2014 and has been desperate to get a fight. His last victory was a decisive stoppage against English boxer Brian Rose, who was knocked out 14 February against Carson Jones for the WBC International light middleweight title.
Rumors have floated around continuously about Andrade’s plans on the internet; which are plentiful, but Andrade attempted to break it down for the fans.
“They wanted me to fight at 160; that was a rumor. It got on the Internet,” said an energetic Andrade explained. “My name got in the mix, so I was supposed to fight. Then December 13th came, and I was supposed to fight Charlo, one of the Charlo brothers on the Alexander-Khan card. Now that was not a contract that was faxed to me, or emailed or mailed to the house,” he explained.
“It wasn’t, it was just something over the internet that people were tuned into. Showtime just blasted it out, but nothing was in writing for me,” he added.
Andrade pleads that he never saw the necessary paperwork to make the fight happen.
“I was like, well where is the paperwork,” he questioned. “I signed mine, and I’m still waiting for you guys to sign yours and I signed mine the last week of January. What are we waiting for?”
As a result, Andrade turned his attention to the TV networks, stating that either one or the other needs to come up with the money to make the fight, albeit that is not his job. All Andrade wants to do is get in that ring.
This is a continuing problem in the sport. For example, with the Hank Lundy and Dierry Jean situation. It appears that it is not the fighters who are the problem; it’s the people on the business end who are preventing fights from taking place.
“HBO has my last refusal,” he stated. “Therefore they can match the numbers that Showtime was putting up and take the fight. Showtime could double it up, or all Showtime has to do is put the money up, or HBO has to put the money up. I am ready to fight,” he elucidated.
Andrade then made a case for why the fight would be an intriguing matchup.
“I’m young, he’s young, he’s undefeated, I’m undefeated, I’m hungrier, he’s hungry and this is what I have done since I was six,” he added.
“If your boy, don’t get me wrong; no disrespect, he is a young, hungry guy that wants to make something of himself, but you are barking up the wrong tree, brother,” Andrade exclaimed.
It is hard to tell what is real and what isn’t in boxing these days, but from what Andrade is alleging, it is Charlo who needs to take the next step.
“Let’s make it happen. Sign that contract so we can go ahead and make this fight happen,”
There are always two sides to every story. But, it was Jermell’s twin brother Jermall, also undefeated that answered questions on his brother’s situation with Andrade.
“I don’t care about Demetrius Andrade,” an upset Charlo said. “He had a chance to fight my twin brother; he turned the fight down, now he is begging for a fight. Next time choose wisely.”
Will Demetrius Andrade and Jermell Charlo ever meet in the ring? Unfortunately in the sport these days, we see this type of doltish banter going back and forth. The politics and the business side of the sport tend to get in the way of what the sport is all about and that is making the best quality fights against the best possible opponents.
In addition, the people with the brains in the sport- the promoters and the money makers alike, have the ability to take advantage of fighters who are not knowledgeable about the process. No one is willing to say it, but it happens all the time. Until all of the fighters educate themselves about the goods and the evils of the sport, we will continue to have these problems.
In a perfect world, the sport would be 100 percent sound and rid of all its flaws. But, we live in an imperfect sport and an imperfect world, so we must embrace what we have and just learn to cope with the problems.
